Environmental Awareness - Naturalist Intelligence
Environment is the
global ecosystem were
all life exists and
lives. The
thin layer of air that surrounds our planet that
supports life. The area in which we live and
share.
Human Life -
Our Universe -
Conservation -
Restoration -
Diversity -
Biology -
Evolution
If we did not have our environment,
we could not exist. This environmental space in
which we
share with other life forms is a
complex system. Though our
environment can be an incredibly beautiful experience, the environment can
also
kill. Evidence of
mass extinctions in our past reveals
the
vulnerabilities of our environment. And today we have millions of
people and other living species dying every year from
pollution and other pollution
related problems. Humans have irresponsibly
infected the only living
space in our solar system. But we can
recover,
because science has taught us about the
laws of
nature and how everything is
cause and
effect. So we have a lot of work to do,
and
we have a lot to learn. Our lives depend on it. We will have to
work together locally and
globally in order to solve these problems that we are faced with, like
with the problem of increased amounts of
CO2 in the
Air. We have been given a
beautiful gift. So let us
preserve this gift for future generations and
the trillions of people who will need to depend on this environment to live.
Just
like us and millions of
other life forms do today.
Sustainable -
Earth Protectors -
Restoration -
Monitoring -
Habitat -
Schools -
Connected -
Coexist -
Benefits
Ecosystem
Services is when Humankind
benefits in a multitude of ways from
ecosystems by providing
clean drinking water
production of
food,
decomposition of wastes,
regulating the control of
climate and
disease; supporting
nutrient cycles and crop
pollination; and
cultural, spiritual and
recreational
benefits, and economic values.
Trees
-
Plants -
Insects -
Animals -
Zoos -
Geography -
Geology -
Air
Affordance is
what the
environment offers to the animal, what it provides or furnishes,
either for good or ill. This includes all transactions that are possible
between an individual and their environment. Affordances are clues about
how an object should be used, typically provided by the object itself
or its context.
Natural Resource are
resources that
exist without actions of
humankind. This includes all
valued characteristics such as magnetic,
gravitational, and electrical properties and forces. On
Earth it includes:
sunlight,
atmosphere,
water,
land (includes all
minerals) along with all
vegetation and
animal life that naturally subsists upon or within the
heretofore identified characteristics and substances.
Natural Environment.
Hotspots (habitat loss) -
Divesting -
Mining -
Public
Lands -
Destruction -
Extinction -
Warming
Physical System is a portion of the physical universe chosen for
analysis. Everything outside the system is known as the environment. The
environment is ignored except for its effects on the system. The split
between system and environment is the analyst's choice, generally made to
simplify the analysis. For example, the water in a lake, the water in half
of a lake, or an individual molecule of water in the lake can each be
considered a physical system. An
isolated system is one that has
negligible interaction with its environment. Often a system in this
sense is chosen to correspond to the more usual meaning of system, such as
a particular machine. In the study of quantum coherence, the "system" may
refer to the microscopic properties of an object (e.g. the mean of a
pendulum bob), while the relevant "environment" may be the internal
degrees of freedom, described classically by the pendulum's thermal
vibrations.
Environment in Biophysical is the
biotic and
abiotic surrounding of an
organism or
population, and consequently includes the factors that have an
influence in their survival,
development and evolution marine environment,
the
atmospheric environment and the terrestrial environment. All life that
has survived must have
adapted to conditions of its environment.
Temperature,
light, humidity,
soil nutrients, etc.
Biosphere.
"
There is no such thing as
Free, nothing is free, so please don't
steal, especially from the future".
Environmental Sayings
-
Benefits.
Managing Our Surroundings is everyone’s
responsibility,
and those responsibilities must be defined and
understood if we are ever going
to succeed. And now that
the world is flat again, means that our surroundings are
not just local,
they're also global. Every life
form on planet earth has a particular responsibility to maintain life and
maintain the environment including all plant life. All humans have
responsibilities to maintain life and maintain the environment including
all plant life. But not every human is utilized and not every human is
fulfilling their responsibilities, thus some people are doing more harm than good.
Nature Smart enables human beings to
recognize, categorize and
draw upon certain features of the environment.
Benefits.
"The environment speaks in numbers and
math is the universal language that gives us the
ability to have some form of communication with everything around us."
Cause and Effect
Causality
is when one process or state, a cause,
contributes to the production of
another process or state, an effect, where the cause is partly responsible
for the effect, and the effect is partly dependent on the cause. In
general, a process has many causes, which are also said to be causal
factors for it, and all lie in its past. An effect can in turn be a cause
of, or causal factor for, many other effects, which all lie in its future.
Causality
connects one process (the cause) with another
process or state (the
effect), where the first is understood to be partly
responsible for the
second, and the second is dependent on the first.
Causality (PDF)
Principle of Cause and Effect explains that there is a cause for
every effect, and an effect for every cause. It also states that there is
no such thing as chance, that chance is merely a term indicating extant
causes not recognized or perceived.
Develop.
Cause is the source of a
process, where
some
action originates from.
Root-Cause -
Chain Reactions -
Chemical Reactions -
Feedback Loop
-
Side-Effect -
For every Action is an Opposite Reaction
-
Consequences -
Consistencies -
Correlations -
Decisions -
Reasons -
The Point
Natural Cause or
Man Made Cause?
Causes of Death that are not
Natural are
Man Made. And there is hardly
anything in life that is
Natural. Just
because something was here before you got here, that does not prove that it's
natural.
Anthropocene.
Physical Causality is a physical relationship between causes and
effects. It is considered to be fundamental to all natural sciences and
behavioral sciences, especially physics. Causality is also a topic studied
from the perspectives of philosophy, statistics and logic. Causality means
that an effect can not occur from a cause that is not in the back (past)
light cone of that event. Similarly, a cause can not have an effect
outside its front (future) light cone.
Causal System is a system where the output depends on past and current
inputs but not future inputs.
Retrocausality or backwards causation is a concept of cause and effect
in which an effect precedes its cause in time and so a later event affects
an earlier one. In quantum physics, the distinction between cause and
effect is not made at the most fundamental level and so time-symmetric
systems can be viewed as causal or retrocausal. Philosophical
considerations of
time travel often
address the same issues as retrocausality, as do treatments of the subject
in fiction, but the two phenomena are distinct.
Time based correlation.
Conducive is tending to bring about or
being partly responsible for.
Predictions -
Cycles -
Patterns
-
Interactive
Factor is anything that contributes
as a cause to a result. Something to consider as
relevant when making a
decision.
Cofactor is a contributory cause of a
disease.
Cofactor in biochemistry is a substance other than the substrate,
whose presence is essential for the activity of an enzyme.
Extenuating
Circumstances -
Mitigating Factors -
Reaction.
Environmental
Factor is any factor,
abiotic or biotic, that influences living organisms. Abiotic factors
include ambient
temperature, amount of
sunlight, and
pH of the
water and
soil
in which an organism lives.
Biotic factors would include the availability
of food organisms and the presence of conspecifics, competitors,
predators, and parasites.
Attribution is assigning or giving some
quality or character to a person or thing. Assigning to a cause or
source.
Implement is to apply an action in a manner
that is consistent with its
purpose or
design, and in the observance of
laws and
rules, that pursues a conclusion or brings something to an end. An
instrumentation or a piece of
equipment
or tool that is used to effect an end or a result.
Effect is the
result
of an
action and
what
happens because of the cause, which can be
good or
bad.
Side-Effect.
Efficacy is the ability to
produce a
desired effect under ideal testing conditions. Degree of ability to
produce a desired effect.
Influence is the effect of one thing or
person on another. To induce something or someone into action or cause
something without any direct or apparent effort.
Social Influence -
Triggers.
Prompt is to cause an action or a feeling.
To assist or encourage someone to say something. An act of assisting or
encouraging a hesitating speaker.
Prompt is also something that is done
on time or in the right away.
Reinforced
Learning.
Causative
is a valency-increasing operation that indicates that a subject
causes
someone or something else to do or be something, or
causes a change in
state of a non-volitional event. Prototypically, it brings in a new
argument (the causer), A, into a transitive clause, with the original S becoming the O.
False Flag Attack.
Result is a
phenomenon that
follows some event that was caused by some previous phenomenon.
An
outcome is something that follows as a
consequence
of a
particular action.
Result
is the final
consequence of a
sequence
of actions or events expressed qualitatively or
quantitatively. Possible results include advantage,
disadvantage, gain, injury, loss,
value and victory. There may be a range of possible outcomes associated
with an event depending on the point of view, historical distance or
relevance. Reaching no result can mean that actions are inefficient,
ineffective,
meaningless or flawed.
Response.
Teleology is a doctrine explaining phenomena by
their ends or
purposes, or the explanation of phenomena
in terms of the purpose they serve
rather than of the cause by which they
arise. It is a reason or an explanation for something which serves as a
function of its end,
its purpose, or its goal, as opposed to something which serves as a
function of its cause. A purpose that is imposed by a human use, such as
the purpose of a fork to hold food, is called extrinsic.
Law of Cause and Effect states that
everything happens for a reason. For
every effect there is a specific
cause.
Contingency is a
possible event or
occurrence or result and the conditions or
circumstances that follow.
Affect is to have an effect on someone or
something or to
impact or
influence something.
Planning.
Event is something that happens at a given
place and
time. A special set of
circumstances.
Circumstance is the set of
facts that surround a
situation or an event. A condition that accompanies or
influences some event or
activity.
Information
that should be kept in mind when making a
decision.
Context.
Mitigating Circumstances -
Relative.
Situation is the general state of things
and the
combination of circumstances at a given time. A condition or
position in which you find yourself in. A complex problem and a critical
moment or unusual difficulty that has happened that you must deal with and
learn to solve. Your
physical position in relation
to the surroundings.
Relative.
Phenomenon is a
fact or situation that is
observed to exist or
happen, especially one whose cause or
explanation is in
question.
Phenomenon is any state or
process known through the
senses rather than by
intuition. The object of a person's perception and what the
senses or the mind notice. A remarkable development that you can see
happen.
Random.
Epiphenomena
is a
secondary phenomenon that occurs alongside or in parallel to a
primary phenomenon.
Newtown's Third Law -
Thermo Dynamics
-
Entropy -
Particle Physics -
Time
Causal Model
is an
abstract model that describes the causal mechanisms of a
system. The model must
express more than correlation because correlation does not imply
causation.
Problem Solving.
Cause–Effect Graph is a directed
graph that maps a set of
causes to a set of effects. The causes may be thought of as the input to
the program, and the effects may be thought of as the output. Usually the
graph shows the nodes representing the causes on the left side and the
nodes representing the effects on the right side. There may be
intermediate nodes in between that combine inputs using logical operators
such as AND and OR. Constraints may be added to the causes and effects.
These are represented as edges labeled with the constraint symbol using a
dashed line. For causes, valid constraint symbols are E (exclusive), O
(one and only one), I (at least one), and R (Requires). The exclusive
constraint states that at most one of the causes 1 and 2 can be true, i.e.
both cannot be true simultaneously. The Inclusive (at least one)
constraint states that at least one of the causes 1, 2 or 3 must be true,
i.e. all cannot be false simultaneously. The one and only one (OaOO or
simply O) constraint states that only one of the causes 1, 2 or 3 must be
true. The Requires constraint states that if cause 1 is true, then cause 2
must be true, and it is impossible for 1 to be true and 2 to be false. For
effects, valid constraint symbol is M (Mask). The mask constraint states
that if effect 1 is true then effect 2 is false. Note that the mask
constraint relates to the effects and not the causes like the other
constraints.
Causal Invariance means that no matter which evolution is chosen for a
system, the history is the same in the sense that the same events occur
and they have the same causal relationships.
Efficacious is marked by qualities
giving
the power to produce an intended effect. Producing or capable of producing
an intended result or having a striking effect.
Interaction is a mutual or
reciprocal
action.
Interaction in physics is the
transfer of
energy between
elementary particles
or between an elementary particle and a field or between fields; mediated by gauge bosons.
Interactive.
Using mathematics to better understand cause and effect. A new method
for determining causality gives scientists a more
holistic view of the causal
role that contributing factors play within just about any system.
Naturally, things get much more complicated as a system grows, as the
number of variables increases, and as noise enters the picture.
Eventually, it can become almost impossible to tell whether a variable is
causing an effect or is simply correlated or associated with it.
Greed -
Corruption.
If you never become
aware
of an
effect or
understand that there is an
effect, you will never look for the
cause.
If you believe that this is the way things are, then you will never know
what things can be or will be. Shutting yourself off from reality is a
vulnerability and a dangerous game to play. Your
ability to learn should never be
ignored, after all, learning is the main reason why you exist. Your
parents and
grandparents had to learn
many things from previous generations in order to make it possible for you
to be alive. Not everything is
planned, but everything is still cause and effect.
One thing leads
to another. This is our reality in life and the reality of the
universe. Everything is cause and effect, and it's really important that
every person understands cause and effect. Everything that you do or say
has an effect, internally and externally. Everything is in motion and
everything changes. Things may look like they're not moving, but they are
moving. Things may seem the same, but things are not totally the same.
Transitions happen at different speeds and at different times. Humans are
in transition, and our planet is in transition. The responsibility of
adaptation is extremely
important to understand. If you can't adapt or adapt quick enough in life,
then
extinction will be the result. Knowledge is
power, but if you lack the knowledge, then you are almost powerless. There
is survival of the fittest, but there is also survival of the quickest.
The quickest to think and the quickest to act will always be more
successful, but if you can have both the brains and the strength, then
your success will be a lot more certain. Humans are an intelligent
species, but we are not always acting intelligent. Humans have done many
smart things, but
true intelligence has
eluded us.
Synchronized - Simultaneously at the Same Time
Synchronicity is the
relation that exists
when things occur at
the same time.
Synchronous is
something existing or occurring at the
same time.
Synchronous
Communication -
Asynchronous Communication
-
Positive Vibrations -
Simultaneous -
Multitasking -
Choreography -
Coordination -
Conformity
Synchronization
is the
coordination of events to operate a
system in unison.
Synchronicity states that events are
meaningful
coincidences if they occur with no
causal relationship yet seem to be
meaningfully related.
The Secret of
Synchronization (youtube) - From
chaos to order.
Metronomes -
Music.
Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction is one of a class of reactions that
serve as a classical example of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, resulting
in the establishment of a nonlinear chemical
oscillator.
Kuramoto Model is a mathematical model used to describe
synchronization. More specifically, it is a model for the behavior of a
large set of
coupled oscillators.
Self-Organization is a process where some form of overall
order arises from
local
interactions between parts of an initially
disordered
system. The process can be
spontaneous when sufficient energy is available, not needing
control
by any external
agent. It is often triggered by seemingly
random fluctuations, amplified by
positive feedback. The resulting organization is
wholly
decentralized, distributed over all the components of the
system.
As such, the organization is typically robust and able to survive or
self-repair substantial perturbation.
Chaos theory discusses
self-organization
in terms of islands of
predictability in a sea of chaotic
unpredictability. Self-organization occurs in
many physical, chemical, biological, robotic, and cognitive systems.
Examples of self-organization include
crystallization, thermal convection of fluids, chemical oscillation,
animal swarming, neural circuits,
neural
networks, and black markets.
Self Assembly -
Intelligent Design -
Path of Least Resistance
-
Consistent
Gravity Well demonstration shows
why planets end up orbiting in the
same direction on the Same Orbital Plane.
Gravity
Visualized (youtube).
Reconciliation is getting two
things to correspond or be
compatible, similar or
consistent. To coincide in their
characteristics and be
equivalent or
parallel. To happen simultaneously.
Synchronizing to a beat predicts how well you get 'in sync' with others.
The results demonstrate that the more someone entrained to the rhythmic
beat of the task, the more likely they were to synchronize their pupils
with those of the storyteller. Identifying that these two forms of
synchrony -- simple, metronomic entrainment and complex shared attention
-- are linked is really interesting, as it opens up all sorts of larger
questions about why this tendency to synchronize varies between people.
Consistency - Constant - Repeatable
Consistent is capable of
being reproduced
reliably.
Marked by an
orderly,
logical, and
aesthetically
consistent
relation of
parts. The same throughout in structure or composition.
Repeatable -
Planned -
Will Power -
Intelligent Design -
For a Reason -
Symmetry -
Synchronicity -
Agreement -
Resilient -
Continuum
Consistency is logical coherence and
accordance with the facts. A
harmonious
uniformity or
agreement among things or parts.
Continuity is an uninterrupted
connection or
union. The property of a
continuous and connected period of time.
Constancy is the quality of being
enduring
and free from change or
variation. Stable.
Constancy in psychology is the tendency for
perceived objects to give rise to very
similar perceptual experiences in
spite of wide variations in the conditions of
observation.
Constant in
mathematics means
non-varying. It may also refer to a fixed and
well-defined number or other
mathematical object.
Fixed is a
number having an unchanging value. Something unmoving, securely placed,
fastened or set. Something incapable of being changed, moved or undone.
Something stable or stationary. Make something ready or suitable, or
equip something in
advance for a particular purpose or for some use or event.
Physical Constant is a
physical quantity that is generally believed to
be both universal in nature and have constant value in time. It is
contrasted with a
mathematical constant, which has a fixed
numerical
value, but does not directly involve any physical measurement. There
are many physical constants in science, some of the most widely recognized
being the
speed of light in vacuum c, the
gravitational constant G,
Planck's constant h, the
electric constant ε0, and the
elementary charge
e. Physical constants can take many dimensional forms: the speed of light
signifies a maximum speed limit of the Universe and is expressed
dimensionally as length divided by time; while the
fine-structure constant
α, which characterizes the strength of the
electromagnetic interaction, is
dimensionless. The term fundamental physical constant is sometimes used to
refer to universal but dimensioned physical constants such as those
mentioned above. Increasingly, however, physicists reserve the use of the
term fundamental physical constant for
dimensionless physical constants,
such as the fine-structure constant α.
List of Physical Constants (wiki)
Coherence is the quality of being
logical and consistent. Logical, orderly, and consistent relation of
parts. the quality of
forming a unified whole.
The state of cohering or sticking together.
Cohering is to come or be in close contact
with; stick or hold together and resist separation. Cause to form a
united, orderly, and
aesthetically consistent whole. Have internal elements or
parts logically connected so that aesthetic
consistency results.
Plasticity
-
Adaptation -
Mutations -
Errors -
Extinctions -
Chaos -
EntropyAdhering is to
be
compatible or in
accordance with. Follow through or carry out a plan without deviation.
Come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist
separation.
Uniform is always the same; showing a
single form or character in all occurrences. The same throughout in
structure or composition. Evenly spaced.
Conformity vs.
Diversity.
Order is a logical or
comprehensible
arrangement of separate elements.
System.
Symmetry (Mathematics - Life) -
Ingredients -
Laws of Physics
Homeostasis is the property of a system in which a
variable is
actively regulated to remain very nearly
constant or
good.
Self-Organization (synchronicity)
Synesthesia
is a neurological phenomenon in which
stimulation of one sensory or
cognitive pathway leads to
automatic, involuntary experiences in a second
sensory or cognitive pathway.
Symbiosis -
Coexist -
Stewardship -
Monitoring
Immutable is something that is not
subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or
nature.
Kantianism states all actions are performed in accordance with some
underlying maxim or
principle, which are
deeply different from each other; it is according to this that the moral
worth of any action is judged.
Destiny
-
Determinism
Brain
circuit ensures vision remains reliable behind the scenes. As mice
watched movies, neuroscientists watched their brains to see how vision
could be represented reliably. The answer is that consistency in
representation is governed by a circuit of inhibitory neurons. When it
comes to processing vision, the brain is full of noise. Information moves
from the eyes through many connections in the brain. Ideally the same
image would be reliably represented the same way each time, but instead
different groups of cells in the visual cortex can become stimulated by
the same scenes. So how does the brain ultimately ensure fidelity in
processing what we see? What the researchers discovered is that while
groups of "excitatory" neurons respond when images appear, thereby
representing them in the visual cortex, activity among two types of
"inhibitory" neurons combines in a neatly arranged circuit behind the
scenes to enforce the needed reliability. The researchers were not only
able to see and analyze the patterns of these neurons working, but also
once they learned how the circuit operated, they took control of the
inhibitory cells to directly manipulate how consistently excitatory cells
represented images. The team's main observation was that as mice watched
the same movies repeatedly, the reliability of representation among
excitatory cells varied along with the activity levels of two different
inhibitory neurons. When reliability was low, activity among parvalbumin-expressing
(PV) inhibitory neurons was high and activity among somatostatin-expressing
(SST) neurons was low. When reliability was high, PV activity was low and
SST activity was high. They also saw that SST activity followed PV
activity in time after excitatory activity had become unreliable.
How a cup of water can unlock the secrets of our Universe. There is a
range in which
fundamental
constants can vary, allowing for the viscosity needed for life
processes to occur within and between living cells. This is an important
piece of the puzzle in determining where these constants come from and how
they impact life as we know it. In 2020, the same team found that the
viscosity of liquids is determined by fundamental physical constants,
setting a limit on how runny a liquid can be. Now this result is taken
into the realm of life sciences.
Correlations
Correlation is a
reciprocal
or
feedback
relation between two or more things. A
statistical relation between two or
more
variables such that systematic changes in the value of one
variable
are accompanied by
systematic changes in the other.
Correlated is when things are
mutually related and have a
reciprocal
relation that is
complementary.
Coordinated -
Association -
Patterns
-
Synchronicity
Correlation and Dependence is any
statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two
random variables
or bivariate data.
In the broadest sense correlation is any statistical association, though
in common usage it most often refers to how close two
variables
are to
having a linear relationship with each other. Familiar
examples of
dependent phenomena include the correlation between the physical statures
of parents and their offspring, and the correlation between the demand for
a limited supply product and its price. Correlations are useful because
they can indicate a
predictive relationship that can be exploited in
practice. For example, an electrical utility may produce less power on a
mild day based on the correlation between electricity demand and weather.
In this example, there is a
causal relationship, because extreme weather
causes people to use more electricity for heating or cooling. However, in
general, the presence of a correlation is not sufficient to infer the
presence of a causal
relationship.
Deductive Reasoning.
Third Cause Fallacy is giving a
deceiving false reason for a cause
in order to try to discredit or ignore other logical causes.
Correlation does not necessarily prove Causation because when two
variables
are
found to be
correlated, it is tempting to
assume that this shows that
one
variable causes the other. Saying that "
correlation
proves causation," is considered a
questionable cause or
fallacy. All because two events
occur
together, you can not automatically
assume to have established a
cause-and-effect relationship.
Sometimes
occam's razor can apply,
but not always.
Coincidence -
Association Fallacy -
Assumptions -
Bias in Research -
Observation Flaws -
False Evidence
Causal
Inference or confounding
variable,
is a variable that influences both the dependent variable and independent
variable, causing a spurious association. Confounding is a
causal concept, and as such, cannot be
described in terms of correlations or associations. The existence of
confounders is an important quantitative explanation why correlation does
not imply causation. Some notations are explicitly designed to identify
the existence,
possible existence, or
non-existence of confounders in causal relationships between elements of a
system.
The more
possible
scenarios that you have that would give a reason why something
happened, the less chance you will have at being 100 percent accurate.
Some events could have happened for a number of reasons, but you need to
have the most likely answer, with the understanding that other
possible answers exist. There are several
reasons that could explain why an event happened, and none of those
reasons stand alone because there can be several reasons that contributed
to the event, with some of those reasons being unknown to you.
Patterns
-
Levels of Thinking -
False Flag
Sometimes
the best way for something not to get noticed is to be visible and not
hidden. When people get use to seeing something most of the time, they
seem to notice less and less about that something. And when something
happens, people sometimes look for things that are hidden or unknown to
them, when in fact, the thing that they're looking for is right in front
of them. Seeing a
pattern is one thing,
not being able to see something
because you lack the knowledge and information that's needed to see it, is
another thing. Just because you can see something, this doesn't mean that
you understand it, and just because you don't see something, this doesn't
mean that you can't understand it. The trick is
not to jump to
conclusions, because there is no end to learning. When people stop
learning, then
idle minds becomes the devils workshop.
Independence in
probability theory is
when two events are independent,
statistically independent, or stochastically independent. if the
occurrence of one does not affect the probability of occurrence of the
other (equivalently, does not affect the odds). Similarly, two random
variables are independent if the realization of one does not affect the
probability distribution of the other. When dealing with collections of
more than two events, a weak and a strong notion of independence need to
be distinguished. The events are called pairwise independent if any two
events in the collection are independent of each other, while saying that
the events are mutually independent (or collectively independent)
intuitively means that each event is independent of any combination of
other events in the collection. A similar notion exists for collections of
random variables. The name "mutual independence" (same as "collective
independence") seems the outcome of an educational choice, merely to
distinguish the stronger notion from "pairwise independence" which is a
weaker notion. In the advanced literature of probability theory,
statistics, and stochastic processes, the stronger notion is simply named
independence with no modifier. It is stronger since independence implies
pairwise independence, but not the other way around.
Pairwise Independence within a collection of random variables is a set
of random
variables any two of which are independent. Any collection of mutually
independent random variables is pairwise independent, but some pairwise
independent collections are not mutually independent. Pairwise independent
random variables with finite variance are uncorrelated.
Coincidences - Randomness
Coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances
which have no apparent
causal connection with each other.
Anomaly is a
deviation from the normal or
common order or
form or rule.
Anomaly in
natural sciences is the deviation in a quantity from its
expected value. The difference between a measurement and a
mean or a model prediction. Similarly,
a standardized anomaly equals an anomaly divided by a
standard deviation. A group of
anomalies can be analyzed spatially, as a map, or temporally, as a time
series. There are examples in atmospheric sciences and in geophysics.
Anomalous is something deviating from
the general or common order or type.
Chaos -
Mutations
-
Non-Conformist -
Abiogenesis -
Uncertainty Principle
-
Quantum Fluctuation -
Odds -
Risk -
Statistics -
Variable
-
Connections
Stochastic is being or having a random
variable.
Inconsistent is the
lack of consistency and not capable of being
made consistent or
harmonious.
Not in agreement or not
staying the same or
compatible with what is normal.
Contradictions.
Uncertainty is the
state of being unsure of something. In
doubt or dependent on
chance.
Uncertainty refers to epistemic situations involving imperfect or
unknown information.
It applies to
predictions of
future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the
unknown. Uncertainty arises in partially observable and/or stochastic
environments, as well as due to
ignorance, indolence, or both.
Maybe is when you are not sure that
something will happen because you lack information and knowledge, or when
you don't want to
commit to some
action. Having a perceived possibility or chance of happening.
Exception to the Rule. A case may appear at
first sight to be an exception to the rule. However, sometimes when the
situation is examined more closely, it is observed that the
rule does not apply to this case, and thus the rule may be shown to be
valid after all.
Counterexample -
Contradiction.
Randomness is something lacking any
predictable order or plan. Haphazardness.
Random
is a
perceived lack of
pattern
or
predictability in events. A
random sequence of events, symbols or steps has no order and does not
follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual random events
are by definition
unpredictable, but in many cases the frequency of
different outcomes over a large number of events (or "trials") is
predictable. For example, when throwing two dice, the outcome of any
particular roll is unpredictable, but a sum of 7 will occur twice as often
as 4. In this view, randomness is a measure of uncertainty of an outcome,
rather than haphazardness, and applies to concepts of chance,
probability,
and
information entropy.
Transient State.
Arbitrary is a
decision based on a random
choice or personal whim, rather than any
reason or principle, or a system
without restraint in the use of authority. A
decision based on
individual discretion or
preference,
or a decision based on
impulse or
caprice.
Arbitrariness is the quality of being determined by chance, whim, or
impulse, and not by necessity,
reason, or
principle. A choice made without
any specific criterion or restraint.
Autocratic -
Drone -
No Conscience.
Accident is anything that happens suddenly
or by chance
without an apparent cause. An
unfortunate mishap; especially
one causing damage or injury.
Mistake.
Freak Accident is an incident, especially
one that is
harmful, occurring under highly unusual and
unlikely circumstances.
Luck is an unknown and
unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a
favorable outcome.
Fate.
Lucky Break is a
fortunate event that
created an
opportunity for
success, or an event
that saved you from
failure
or
disaster. I got my
first
big break.
Stroke of Luck is something
good that
happens to you by
chance. A fortunate occurrence that could not have been
predicted or expected.
Don't Push your
Luck means not to take
unnecessary risks or to
sacrifice
safety for valueless gains. When someone is continually lucky and
successful they might tend to
think that they
are indestructible and may
assume
that they will be lucky all the time.
Down on your Luck
is when you're experiencing a period of bad luck and nothing seems to go
right.
Bad Luck can turn out to be good luck when
certain
unforeseen benefits
come from having a bad
experience, and good luck can turn out to be bad luck because of some
negative
side effects and
consequences that came from a changed behavior
that was influenced by having good luck. So luck is
relative.
If it
wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all -
Albert King - Born
Under A Bad Sign (youtube)
"I have been extremely lucky many
times. Even when I have bad luck, I still end up being lucky because
I learn more from bad luck
experiences than I do from good luck
experiences."
Serendipity is the unexpected and fortunate discoveries, usually happening when
looking for something unrelated. Finding something nice while
looking for something else.
Miracle
is an event not explicable by natural or
scientific
laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being or deity,
or a miracle worker, or a saint or a religious leader.
Magic.
Surprise is a sudden
unexpected event.
Surprise! -- How the brain learns to deal with the unexpected. For
children, the world is full of surprises. Adults, on the other hand, are
much
more difficult to surprise. And there
are complex processes behind this apparently straightforward state of
affairs. Researchers have been using mice to decode how reactions to the
unexpected develop in the growing brain. The researchers observed that
experiences play a key role in the development of the surprise response in
the cerebral cortex. If the mice were reared in a noise-neutral
environment, the processing of unexpected sounds in the auditory cortex
was significantly delayed. One possible explanation for this is that the
brain -- and the cerebral cortex in particular -- forms an internal image
of the world during growth, which it then compares with external stimuli.
Anything that does not correspond to this "worldview" is a surprise, but
may also result in an update. "Without experience with sounds, however,
the cerebral cortex in these mice is unable to develop such a model of the
world.
Ponzi Scheme -
Mutations -
Break Through
Twist of Fate or just fate. When we
expect things to happen, we will
not be ready for the unexpected. And life is full of unexpected moments.
Destiny.
Fate is an event or a course of events
that are believed to
inevitably happen in the future. The ultimate agency
regarded as
predetermining the
course of events.
Ideas of Reference and delusions of reference describe the phenomenon
of an individual experiencing innocuous events or mere coincidences and
believing they have strong personal significance. It is "the notion that
everything one perceives in the world relates to one's own destiny",
usually in a negative and hostile manner.
Chance is a possibility due to a favorable
combination of
circumstances. An unknown and sometimes unpredictable
phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another.
Incidental is something happening as a
chance consequence.
Inconstant is something likely to change
frequently often without apparent or cogent reason;
variable.
Fortuitous is something happening by
accident or chance rather than by design.
Not Planned.
Black Swan Theory is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as
a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalised
after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. The term is based on an
ancient saying that presumed black swans did not exist – a saying that
became reinterpreted to teach a different lesson after black swans were
discovered in the wild. The theory was developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
to explain: The disproportionate role of high-profile, hard-to-predict,
and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in
history, science, finance, and technology. The non-computability of the
probability of the consequential rare events using scientific methods
(owing to the very nature of small probabilities). The psychological
biases that blind people, both individually and collectively, to
uncertainty and to a rare event's massive role in historical affairs.
Rare Events are events that
occur with low frequency, and often refers
to infrequent events that have widespread impact and which might
destabilize systems (for example, stock markets, ocean wave intensity or
optical fibers or society). Rare events encompass natural phenomena (major
earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, asteroid impacts, solar flares,
etc.), anthropogenic hazards (warfare and related forms of violent
conflict, acts of terrorism, industrial accidents, financial and commodity
market crashes, etc.), as well as phenomena for which natural and
anthropogenic factors interact in complex ways (epidemic disease spread,
global warming-related changes in climate and weather, etc.).
Random Number Generator is a device that generates random numbers from
a physical process, rather than a computer program. Such devices are often
based on microscopic phenomena that generate low-level,
statistically random "noise" signals, such as thermal
noise, the
photoelectric effect, involving a
beam splitter, and other quantum
phenomena. These stochastic processes are, in theory, completely
unpredictable, and the theory's assertions of unpredictability are subject
to experimental test. A hardware random number generator typically
consists of a transducer to convert some aspect of the physical phenomena
to an electrical signal, an amplifier and other electronic circuitry to
increase the amplitude of the random fluctuations to a measurable level,
and some type of analog to digital converter to convert the output into a
digital number, often a simple binary digit 0 or 1. By repeatedly sampling
the randomly varying signal, a series of random numbers is attained. The
main application for electronic hardware random number generators is in
cryptography, where they are used to generate random cryptographic keys to
transmit data securely. They are widely used in Internet encryption
protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Random number generators can
also be built from "random" macroscopic processes, using devices such as
coin flipping, dice, roulette wheels and lottery machines. The presence of
unpredictability in these phenomena can be justified by the theory of
unstable dynamical systems and chaos theory. Even though macroscopic
processes are deterministic under Newtonian mechanics, the output of a
well-designed device like a roulette wheel cannot be predicted in
practice, because it depends on the sensitive, micro-details of the
initial conditions of each use.
Random Gene Pulsing generates Patterns of Life. Scientists working on
the intersection between biology and computation have found that random
gene activity helps patterns form during development of a model
multicellular system.
Biochemical Random Number. Scientists have generated a huge true
random number using DNA synthesis. It is the first time that a number of
this magnitude has been created by biochemical means. True random numbers
are required in fields as diverse as slot machines and data encryption.
These numbers need to be truly random, such that they cannot even be
predicted by people with detailed knowledge of the method used to generate
them.
Making sense of life's random rhythms. Mathematician suggests
universal framework for understanding 'oscillations'. Aan international
team says it has developed a novel, universal framework for comparing and
contrasting oscillations -- regardless of their different underlying
mechanisms -- which could become a critical step toward someday fully
understanding them.
Quick Decisions on the Go -
Abiogenesis -
Creativity -
IdeasSpontaneous is something happening
or
arising without apparent external cause.
Chain Reaction.
Sporadic is something
recurring in
scattered and irregular or
unpredictable instances.
Intermittent
is something that stops and starts at
irregular intervals.
Exact Process by which Chaotic Systems Synchronize.
Coincidence helps with quantum measurements. Through randomly selected
measurements, physicists can determine the
quantum entanglement of many-particle systems.
Nonlinear System
is a
system in which the
output is not directly proportional to the input. Nonlinear problems are
of interest to engineers, physicists and mathematicians and many other
scientists because most systems are inherently nonlinear in nature.
Nonlinear systems may appear chaotic, unpredictable or counterintuitive,
contrasting with the much simpler linear systems.
Nonlinear
Regression is a form of
regression analysis in which observational data are modeled by a
function which is a nonlinear combination of the model parameters and
depends on one or more independent
variables.
The data are fitted by a method of successive
approximations.
Research.
Indeterminism is
the concept that certain events are
not caused, or not caused deterministically or are
caused by prior
events. It is the opposite of
determinism and related to chance. It is
highly relevant to the philosophical problem of
free will, particularly in
the form of metaphysical libertarianism.
Reason for Everything -
Truth is Debatable -
It's All Relative -
Planning
Try not to leave things to randomness.
Some things may seem random, especially when you don't understand the
causes and
effects.
But just remember, there is no proof of something being random, there's
only proof of cause and effect.
Everything happens for a reason, even when you don't know the reason.
There are
accidents and
people make
mistakes, but
those things are not related to randomness, they are related to ignorance.
Chaos - Disorder
Chaos is a state of extreme
confusion and
disorder.
Disorder is a physical condition in
which there is a
disturbance of normal functioning. A condition in which
things are not in their expected places. A
disturbance of the
peace or of
public order.
Feral is something wild and menacing.
Marked by extreme
lack of
restraint or
control and without
civilizing
influences. Not tamed,
domesticated or cultivated.
Marked by extreme and violent energy.
Wild
is something
not tamed or domesticated or cultivated.
Something marked by extreme
lack
of restraint or
control. Something involving
risk or danger. A
primitive state untouched by
civilization.
Menacing is acting
in a
threatening manner or
presents a
danger to
others.
Paradox -
Consequences
Order and
Disorder in physics designates the presence or absence of some
symmetry or correlation in a
many-particle system. In condensed matter physics, systems typically are
ordered at
low temperatures; upon
heating, they undergo one or several phase transitions into less ordered
states. Examples for such an order-disorder transition are: The melting of
ice: solid-liquid transition, loss of
crystalline order; The demagnetization of iron by heating above the
Curie temperature: ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition, loss of magnetic
order. The degree of freedom that is
ordered or
disordered can be translational (crystalline ordering), rotational
(ferroelectric ordering), or a spin state (magnetic ordering). The order
can consist either in a full crystalline space group symmetry, or in a
correlation. Depending on how the correlations decay with distance, one
speaks of long range order or short range order. If a disordered state is
not in
thermodynamic equilibrium, one
speaks of quenched disorder. For instance, a glass is obtained by
quenching (supercooling) a liquid. By extension, other quenched states are
called spin glass, orientational glass. In some contexts, the opposite of
quenched disorder is annealed disorder.
Clutter is a
confused multitude of things or
a
space filled in a disorderly way.
Unwanted echoes that interfere with the observation of signals on a radar
screen.
Random -
Mutations -
Butterfly Effect
-
Variables
-
Coincidence -
Fragmented -
Entropy -
FUBAR -
Patterns
-
WeatherMess is a state of confusion and
disorderliness. Informal term for a
difficult situation.
Symmetry Breaking is a phenomenon in which infinitesimally small
fluctuations acting on a system crossing a
critical point decide the
system's fate, by determining which branch of a bifurcation is taken. To
an
outside observer unaware of the fluctuations (or "
noise"), the choice
will appear arbitrary. This process is called
symmetry "breaking", because
such transitions usually bring the system from a
symmetric but disorderly
state into one or more definite states. Symmetry breaking is thought to
play a major role in
pattern formation.
Symmetry breaking and spontaneous symmetry breaking, characterized by
whether the equations of motion fail to be invariant or the ground state
fails to be invariant.
Time Crystal.
Explicit Symmetry Breaking is the breaking of a symmetry of a theory
by terms in its defining equations of motion (most typically, to the
Lagrangian or the Hamiltonian) that do not respect the
symmetry. Usually
this term is used in situations where these symmetry-breaking terms are
small, so that the symmetry is approximately respected by the theory. An
example is the spectral line splitting in the Zeeman effect, due to a
magnetic interaction perturbation in the Hamiltonian of the atoms
involved. Explicit symmetry breaking differs from spontaneous symmetry
breaking. In the latter, the defining equations respect the
symmetry but
the ground state (vacuum) of the theory breaks it. Explicit symmetry
breaking is also associated with electromagnetic radiation. A system of
accelerated charges results in electromagnetic radiation when the
geometric symmetry of the electric field in free space is explicitly
broken by the associated electrodynamic structure under time varying
excitation of the given system. This is quite evident in an antenna where
the electric lines of field curl around or have rotational geometry around
the radiating terminals in contrast to linear geometric orientation within
a pair of transmission lines which does not radiate even under time
varying excitation.
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking is a spontaneous process of symmetry
breaking, by which a physical system in a symmetric state ends up in an
asymmetric state. In particular, it can
describe systems where the equations of motion or the Lagrangian obey
symmetries, but the lowest-energy vacuum solutions do not exhibit that
same symmetry. When the system goes to one of those vacuum solutions, the
symmetry is broken for perturbations around that vacuum even though the
entire Lagrangian retains that symmetry.
Error Correction (Noise) -
Mistakes -
Chain Reactions -
Butterfly Effect
Habitat Destruction -
Crisis
Theory can sort order from chaos in complex quantum systems.
Development could spark advances in computing, electrochemical, biological
systems. Theoretical chemists have developed a theory that can predict the
threshold at which quantum dynamics switches from '
orderly'
to '
random,' as shown through research using
large-scale computations on photosynthesis models.
The environment
has chaos and order,
symbiotic and
invasive. Is this normal for
biodiversity?
Human Impact on the Environment includes impacts on biophysical
environments, biodiversity, and other resources.
PDF.
Chaos Theory is a
branch of
mathematics focused on the behavior of
dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions—a
response popularly referred to as the
butterfly effect. Small differences
in initial conditions (such as those due to rounding errors in numerical
computation) yield widely diverging outcomes for such dynamical systems,
rendering
long-term prediction
of their behavior impossible in general. This happens even though these
systems are deterministic, meaning that their future behavior is fully
determined by their initial conditions, with no random elements involved.
In other words, the deterministic nature of these systems does not make
them predictable. This behavior is known as deterministic
chaos, or simply
chaos.
Regression Fallacy ascribes cause where none exists. The flaw is
failing to account for natural fluctuations. It is frequently a special
kind of the
post hoc fallacy. Since event Y followed event X, event Y must have
been caused by event X.
Fallacies.
Game Theory is
the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between
intelligent rational decision-makers.
Zero-Sum Game is
a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant's
gain or loss of utility is exactly balanced by the
losses or
gains of the
utility of the other participants. If the total gains of the participants
are added up and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero.
Thus, cutting a cake, where taking a larger piece reduces the amount of
cake available for others, is a zero-sum game if all participants value
each unit of cake equally.
Marginal utility.
Non Zero Sum Game is a situation where one
decision maker's gain (or loss) does not necessarily result in the other
decision makers' loss (or gain). In other words, where the
winnings and
losses of all players do not add up to zero and everyone can gain: a
win-win game.
Precautionary
Principle states that if an
action or policy has a
suspected
risk of causing harm to the public, or to the environment, in
the absence of
scientific consensus (that the action or policy is not
harmful), the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking
an action that may or may not be a
Risk.
Everyone needs to
see the whole picture. We need to see things from the beginning,
and we need to see to the very end, or years from now. We need to
understand all the different things that influence our actions and our
decisions. And we need to see all the effects that are the result of our
actions, even if the results from our actions happen years later. These
are just some of the responsibilities that every human shares on this
beautiful planet earth. You cannot ignore these
responsibilities, and you
cannot
transfer these responsibilities to someone else, unless, there is
an agreement or a contract that explains that this
cooperation that you
have with other people, states that this is the most logical, the most
efficient, and the most effective way to fulfill these
responsibilities that we all share to live. Everyone needs to be
accountable for their actions, and accountable for all the results that
come from their actions. Everyone also needs to be open and honest. It
doesn't seem like a lot to ask, but it means a lot, it means a lot to
everyone, and to every single thing that we hold dear.
You should always know the answers to these
two questions,
What would Earth do?
What
natural processes have been working for
millions of years?
What would Life do?
How has life
adapted to change
in order to survive over the last 500 million years?
Chain Reactions
Chain Reaction is a
sequence of
reactions where a reactive product or
by-product
causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction,
positive
feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events.
Chemical Reactions -
Nuclear Reaction
Chain of Events
is a number of actions and their effects that are contiguous and
linked
together that results in a particular outcome. Something's that happen
are a
combination of
different things happening at the same time or near the same time
simultaneously that are all contributing
to a cause or a failure. So you can't
just blame one thing or
point your finger at a single cause.
Accessory. In the
physical sciences,
chain reactions are a primary example.
Domino Effect is the
cumulative effect produced when
one event sets off a chain of similar events. The environment is kind of
like
Jenga,
it's all fun and games until that one crucial mistake brings the whole
system crashing down. The term is best known as a mechanical effect and is
used as an
analogy to a falling row of
dominoes.
It typically refers to a
linked sequence of
events where the time between successive events is relatively small.
It can be used literally (an observed series of actual collisions) or
metaphorically (causal linkages within systems such as global finance or
politics). The term domino effect is used both to imply that an event is
inevitable or highly likely (as it has already started to happen), and
conversely to imply that an event is impossible or highly unlikely (the
one domino left standing).
Domino Theory
(wiki)
Death Spiral -
Feedback Loop
Snowball Effect
is a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and
builds upon itself, becoming larger, graver, more serious, and also
perhaps potentially
dangerous or disastrous.
Ripple Effect is a situation in which, like ripples expanding across
the water when an object is dropped into it, an effect from an initial
state can be followed outwards incrementally. The ripple effect is often
used colloquially to mean a multiplier in macroeconomics.
Butterfly Effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in
which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can
result in large differences in a later state. The butterfly affect can
also include a situation where someone is an asshole somewhere, and then
their actions reverberate and start a war on the other side of the planet.
Cause and Effect.
Cascading Failure is a
failure in a system of interconnected parts in
which the failure of a part can trigger the failure of successive parts.
Chaos.
Cascade Effect
is an inevitable and sometimes unforeseen chain of events due to an act
affecting a system. If there is a possibility that the cascade effect will
have a negative impact on the system, it is possible to analyze the
effects with a consequence/impact analysis. Cascade effects are commonly
visualized in tree structures, also called
event trees, which is a top down, deductive
failure analysis in which
an undesired state of a
system
is analyzed using
Boolean logic to combine
a series of lower-level events. This analysis method is mainly used in the
fields of
safety engineering and
reliability engineering to understand how systems can fail, to identify
the best ways to reduce risk or to determine (or get a feeling for) event
rates of a safety accident or a particular system level (functional)
failure.
Mobile Sculpture (balance).
Repeat or
Reoccur is something that will happen again and come into being and
be a reality.
Pattern.
Phase Shift (transient state) -
Enlightenment Tipping Point
Tipping Point in physics is an example of
hysteresis in which the
point
at which an object is displaced from a state of stable equilibrium into a
new
equilibrium state that is qualitatively dissimilar from the first.
Tipping Point is the value of the parameter in which the set of
equilibria abruptly
change in
catastrophe theory.
Tipping Point in climatology is when global
climate changes from one
stable state to another possible stable or
unstable state.
Inflection Point is a time of
significant change in a
situation, or a
turning point. A
point on a curve at which a change in the direction of
curvature occurs,
at which the curve changes from being concave
(concave downward) to convex (concave upward), or vice versa. A point
where the curvature vanishes but does not change sign is sometimes called
a point of undulation or undulation point. In
differential calculus and differential
geometry, an inflection point, point of inflection, flex, or inflection is
a point on a smooth plane curve at which the curvature changes.
Inflection point in business is a time of significant change in a
situation or a
turning point.
Inflection Point is a point of a curve at which a change in the
direction of curvature occurs. A
point on a curve
Exponential
Thermal Runaway
occurs in situations where an
increase in temperature changes the
conditions in a way that causes a further
increase in temperature, often
leading to a destructive result. It is a kind of uncontrolled positive
feedback.
Critical Point in mathematics of a differentiable function of a real or
complex
variable, is any value in its domain where its derivative is 0. Some
authors include in the critical points the limit points where the function
may be prolongated by continuity and where the derivative is not defined.
For a differentiable function of
several real variables, a critical point is a value in its domain where
all partial derivatives are zero. The value of the function at a critical
point is a critical value.
Adverse Effect
is an undesired
harmful effect resulting from
pollution or
harmful chemicals
which result in morbidity or particular disease or unhealthy state of
mind, mortality, alteration in body weight, levels of enzymes, loss of
function, or as a pathological change detected at the microscopic,
macroscopic or physiological level. Adverse effects may cause a reversible
or irreversible change, including an increase or decrease in the
susceptibility of the individual to other
chemicals, foods, or
procedures, such as
drug
interactions.
Food Safety.
List of Effects
(PDF)
Side
Effect is
an effect that is secondary to the one intended,
which can be
Good or
Bad.
Catalyst in chemistry is a substance that
initiates or accelerates a
chemical
reaction without itself being affected. A catalyst can also mean
something that causes an important event to happen.
Activation
in (bio-)chemical sciences generally refers to the process whereby
something is prepared or excited for a subsequent reaction.
Effect System is a formal system which describes the
computational effects of computer programs, such as side effects. An
effect system can be used to provide a compile-time check of the possible
effects of the program.
Viruses -
Cancers -
Symmetry Breaking (Chaos) -
Blindly Following.
Straw that Broke the Camel's Back describes
the seemingly minor or routine action that causes an unpredictably large
and sudden reaction, because of the cumulative effect of small actions.
This gives rise to the phrase "the last straw", or "the final straw",
meaning that the last one in a line of unacceptable occurrences causes a
seemingly sudden, strong reaction.
Power
Law is a functional relationship between two quantities, where a
relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change
in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those
quantities: one quantity varies as a power of another. For instance,
considering the area of a square in terms of the length of its side, if
the length is doubled, the area is multiplied by a factor of four.
Rate of Change.
Feedback - Loops
Feedback occurs when outputs of a
system are
routed back as
inputs as part of a
chain of
cause
and
effect that forms a circuit or
loop. The system can then be said to
feed back into itself. The notion of
cause-and-effect has to be handled carefully when applied to
feedback
systems. The causes of a
reaction will have an effect on the next causes of the
reaction, which will then change the reaction again, so that the next
output will change again, which will then change the input again, which
will then change the output again, so on and so on. A kind of
chain reaction that can cause
exponential growth or
perpetual decay.
Feedback Loop is a
circuit that
feeds back some of the output to the input
of a system.
Positive
Feedback accelerates a temperature rise, whereas a
negative feedback slows
it down.
Positive
Feedback is a
process that occurs in a
feedback loop
in which the effects of a small disturbance on a system include an
increase in the magnitude of the disturbance. The enhancement or
amplification of an effect by its own influence on the process that gives
rise to it. The return of part of an output
signal to the input, which is
in phase with it, so that the amplifier gain is increased and the output
is often distorted.
Mirroring
-
Conformity -
Agent -
Filter -
Noise
Negative
Feedback occurs when
some function of the output of a system, process,
or mechanism
is fed back in a manner that tends to
reduce the fluctuations
in the output, whether caused by changes in the input or by other
disturbances.
Methane and CO2 -
Domino Effect -
Repeating Thoughts
Feedback loops make climate action even more urgent, scientists say.
Researchers have identified
26 global warming
accelerators known as
amplifying feedback
loops that the researchers say aren't being properly included in
climate models. They note that the findings add urgency to the need to
respond to the climate crisis and provide a roadmap for policymakers
aiming to avet the most
severe consequences of a
warming planet. Climate models may be underestimating the acceleration
in global temperature change because they aren't fully considering this
large and related set of amplifying feedback loops.
Loop in
computing is a single execution of
a set of instructions that are to be
repeated. A computer
program that performs a series of
instructions repeatedly until some specified condition is satisfied.
The topology of a network whose components are serially connected in such
a way that the last component is connected to the first component. Going
in
circles.
Bi-Directional
is allowing movement in two opposite directions,
reactive or functioning.
Reciprocate
-
Coexist
-
Everything is Connected -
Two-Way Duplex
The Mind makes a bad
decision that effects the Body, and then the body will feedback to the
mind that something is wrong, but if the mind
misinterprets this information,
then the mind may react and
feedback the same decisions that caused the
problem, thus the person is stuck in a continues loop of decline. I
eat
bad food that makes me feel good temporally, but later my body feels bad,
so I eat bad food again to feel better temporally, but later my body feels
bad again, so I eat the bad food again to feel better temporally, and then
I gradually die from disease. I don't exercise because I'm tired, I'm
tired because I don't exercise.
Negativity (pessimism).
Social Feedback
(surveys)
-
Critics -
Comments -
Peer Review
-
Acceptance
Causal Loop Diagram is
visualizing how different
variables in a
system
are
interrelated.
Causal
Loop is a
sequence of events
or actions, information, objects, people, in which an event is among the
causes of another event, which in turn is among the causes of the
first-mentioned event. Such causally-looped events then exist in
spacetime, but their origin cannot be
determined.
Time Loop.
Open-Loop Controller is when the
control action from the
controller is independent of the "
process output", which is the process
variable that is being controlled. It does not use feedback to determine
if its output has achieved the desired goal of the input or process "set
point". An open-loop system cannot engage in
machine learning and also cannot correct any
errors that it could make. It
will not compensate for disturbances in the process being controlled.
Closed-Loop Ecological System are ecosystems that
do not rely on matter exchange with any part
outside the system. The term is most often used to describe
small manmade ecosystems. Such systems are
scientifically interesting and can potentially serve as a life support
system during space flights, in space stations or space habitats. In a
closed ecological system, any waste products produced by one species must
be used by at least one other species. If the purpose is to maintain a
life form, such as a mouse or a human, waste products such as carbon
dioxide, feces and urine must eventually be converted into oxygen, food,
and water. A closed ecological system must contain at least one
autotrophic organism. While both chemotrophic and phototrophic organisms
are plausible, almost all closed ecological systems to date are based on a
phototroph such as green algae.
Dilemmas - State of Uncertainty
Pandora's Box
is a symbol or a
metaphor for a gift,
or an
award, or some type
of fortune that seems valuable and beneficial at first, but in reality, it
brings
unexpected troubles
or causes many unforeseen problems. What looks like a
blessing can actually be a
curse, especially if the
person does not know how to
effectively control the bad side effects from something that may also
have good effects. Like with the saying "
open a
can of worms", which is a similar metaphor for a complex,
troublesome situation that arises from a decision or action that produces
considerable subsequent problems. Examples of a Pandora's box could be
wining the lottery, or falling in love, or voting republican, or having
too many nuclear weapons, or becoming an addict, or getting a high paying
job that does more harm than good. Some actions
may seem small or innocent, but
some actions may turn
out to have
severely detrimental and far-reaching
negative consequences. And some actions
cannot be reversed, only
repaired.
Be careful what you wish for -
KarmaThe
lessons learned from the Pandora's box is to think carefully and
don't rush into things. See
the
whole picture and
see the other side
of the story. See the
bad effects
and not just see the good effects. Everything is not a do or die
situation, but you should at least know when it is do or die. Some
decisions take careful
planning, and takes careful
measurements, careful
research and
confirmation. Sometimes we
rush to fulfill our desires
without understanding all the problems or the difficulties that will come
from our desires. When you
only
focus on the pleasures that something will bring you, you might not
see the
dangers or the
hazards that a pleasure
will bring. Things can be good and bad, but you have to measure and prove
what is good and bad.
Progress Trap
-
Social Trap -
Crisis -
Two Sides to a
Story -
Paradox -
Contradiction -
Flawed Reasoning
Catch-22 is a
perceived dilemma or difficult
circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually
conflicting or dependent
conditions that interfere with
logical decision making. But one
choice
is always going to be better than the other choice, so
don't make up excuses. "
Dammed if you do
and dammed if you don't, but only if you can
prove
it." "
What goes around comes around."
False Dilemma is a type of
informal fallacy in which something is falsely claimed to be an
"
either / or" situation, when in fact there is at least one additional
option.
Pessimism.
Choose Your Poison is used to say that
someone has to make a
choice between
two unpleasant choices, like with a
two party system where you have only
two choices that were chosen by someone else.
Dilemma is a state of uncertainty or perplexity, especially on
requiring a
choice between two or more equally unfavorable options.
What's the Catch?
Between a Rock and a Hard Place is when
you have to make a
choice
between
two unpleasant choices, or when you're
faced with a situation offering at least two unacceptable possibilities.
The origin of the
idiom can be found
in ancient Greek mythology.
Tough is
something that is
very difficult that severely
tests your
stamina or
resolution, an event that
makes great mental demands that are hard to comprehend or solve or
believe. Something unfortunate or hard to bear.
Explore-Exploit Tradeoff is a dilemma you
may face when choosing between options. Should you choose what you know
and get something close to what you expect (‘exploit’) or choose something
you aren’t sure about and possibly learn more (‘explore’)?
Variables.
Setting up to Fail is a phrase denoting a no-win situation designed in
such a way that the person in the situation cannot succeed at the task
which they have been assigned.
Planned obsolescence.
Emergence is a
process whereby larger entities arise through
interactions among
smaller or simpler entities such that the larger
entities exhibit properties the smaller/simpler entities do not exhibit.
Develop.
Downward
Causation is a causal
relationship
from higher levels of a
system
to lower-level parts of that system.
Pareto
Principle states that, for many events, roughly 80%
of the effects come from 20% of the causes. (80–20 rule).
Thucydides is
strict standards of
evidence-gathering and
analysis of cause and effect . (c. 460 – c. 400 BC).
Ecocide
is the extensive damage and
destruction of
ecosystems of a given territory, whether by
human agency or by other, to
such an extent that
healthy enjoyment by the inhabitants of that
territory has been or will be severely diminished.
You Don't Know What
You Got Till It's Gone - Cinderella (youtube)
Virtuous Circle and Vicious Circle refers to complex chains of events
that reinforce themselves through a feedback loop. A virtuous circle has
favorable results, while a vicious circle has detrimental results. Both
circles are complex chains of events with no tendency toward equilibrium
(social, economic, ecological, etc.) - at least in the short run. Both
systems of events have feedback loops in which each iteration of the cycle
reinforces the previous one (positive feedback). These cycles will
continue in the direction of their momentum until an external factor
intervenes and breaks the cycle.
Ruminating.
Input - Output is
the
communication between an information
processing system, such as a
computer, and the outside world,
possibly a human or another
information
processing system.
Inputs are the signals or
data received by the system
and outputs are the signals or data sent from it. The term can also be
used as part of an
action;
to "perform I/O" is to perform an input or output operation.
I/O devices
are used by a
human (or other system)
to communicate with a computer. For instance, a
keyboard or mouse is an
input device for a computer, while monitors and printers are output
devices. Devices for communication between computers, such as modems and
network cards, typically perform both input and output operations.
Race Condition is the behavior of an electronic, software, or other
system where the output is dependent on the sequence or timing of other
uncontrollable events. It becomes a bug when events do not happen in the
order the programmer intended. The term originates with the idea of two
signals racing each other to influence the output first. Race conditions
can occur in electronics systems, especially logic circuits, and in
computer software, especially multithreaded or distributed programs.
System Archetype are patterns of behavior of a
system.
Systems expressed by circles of causality have therefore similar
structure.
Open System
or
Paradigm Shift
is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices
of a scientific discipline.
Enactivism
is when cognition arises through a dynamic interaction between an acting
organism and its environment.
The
Fixx - One Thing Leads To Another (youtube)
You Reap what you Sow, Give and Receive, or what
goes around comes around, is only accurate when you measure the value of
the input and the output. Just the facts, and not the perceived facts or assumed facts.
Consequences - Outcomes
Consequence is the
outcome of an event that
is
relative to an individual or group of people. Having important
effects
or
influence.
Consequentialism
is the class of normative
ethical theories holding that the consequences
of one's
conduct are the
ultimate basis for any
judgment about the rightness or
wrongness of that conduct.
A morally right act is one that will produce a
good outcome, or consequence.
Omission
from acting or
negligence will
produce a
bad outcome.
Deterministic is an
inevitable consequence of a preceding occurrence or
cause or event.
Ramification is a
consequence of an action or event, especially when complex or unwelcome.
Repercussions is a remote or
indirect
consequence of some action.
Collateral Damage -
Blowback
-
Feedback Loop -
Chain Reactions
-
Punishment -
Dilemmas -
Side Effects
- Chaos -
Mistake
-
Two Sides to a Coin
-
Two Wrongs -
Karma -
Condescension
Backlash is an adverse reaction to some
social occurrence. Come back to the originator of an action with an
undesired effect.
Backfire is
something that comes back to the originator of an action with an undesired
effect.
Unintended Consequences are outcomes that are not the ones
foreseen
and
intended by a
purposeful action. Possible
causes of unintended
consequences include the world's inherent
complexity of parts of a system
responding to changes in the environment,
perverse incentives, human
stupidity,
self-deception, failure to account for
human nature, or other
cognitive or emotional
biases. As a sub-component of complexity in the
scientific sense, the
chaotic nature of the universe—and especially its
quality of having small, apparently insignificant changes with
far-reaching effects (e.g., the
butterfly effect)—applies. Robert K.
Merton listed five possible causes of unanticipated consequences in 1936:
Ignorance, making it
impossible to anticipate everything, thereby leading
to
incomplete analysis. Errors in analysis of the problem or following
habits that worked in the past but
may not apply to the current situation.
Immediate interests
overriding long-term interests.
Basic values which may
require or prohibit certain actions even if the long-term result might be unfavourable (these long-term consequences may eventually cause changes in
basic values). Self-defeating prophecy, or, the fear of some consequence
which drives people to
find solutions before the problem occurs, thus the
non-occurrence of the problem is not anticipated. In addition to Merton's
causes, psychologist Stuart Vyse has noted that groupthink, described by
Irving Janis, has been blamed for some decisions that result in unintended
consequences.
Ramification
Problem is concerned with the
indirect consequences of an
action. It might also be posed as how to represent what happens implicitly
due to an action or how to control the secondary and tertiary effects of
an action. It is strongly connected to, and is opposite the
qualification side of, the
frame problem, describes an issue with using
first-order logic (FOL) to express
facts about a robot in the world.
We should Remake these game shows to be more reality based -
Truth or Consequences (wiki) and
Truth or Dare? (wiki)
Outcome
Bias is our
preference to judge decisions based on the outcome,
rather than how we made the decision. We weigh a one-time result more
heavily than the
decision-making process itself.
Hindsight Bias is our tendency to see past
events as much more predictable than they actually were. While it’s often
hard or impossible to actually predict certain things, after the fact we
get an “
I knew it all along” feeling. This
leads to us misjudging our own and others’ abilities.
Hindsight is 20/20 describes the fact that
it is easy for one to be knowledgeable about an event after it has
happened.
Entailment is a
deduction or
implication, that is, something that follows logically from or is implied
by something else. In logic, an entailment is the relationship between
sentences whereby
one sentence will be true if all the others are also
true. Something involved as a necessary part or consequence of something.
An entailment can also mean a situation where the
owner of property has
limited power over his own property.
Environment Knowledge
Natural
Environment encompasses all
living and
non-living things occurring
naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that
encompasses the
interaction of all living species. Climate,
weather, and
natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The
concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components:
Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive
civilized
human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms,
soil, rocks, atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their
boundaries and their nature.
Universal natural resources and physical
phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate,
as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not
originating from civilized human activity.
Naturalist Education
-
Environmental Impact Studies -
Biodiversity Loss
Nature
is the natural, physical, or material world or universe. "
Nature" can
refer to the
phenomena of the physical world,
and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large part of
science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often
understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena.
Parks.
Ecology is the study
of the
relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their
physical environment. It is the
scientific analysis and study of
interactions among organisms and their
environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population,
community, ecosystems, and
biosphere level.
Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of
biogeography, evolutionary biology,
earth science, genetics,
ethology and natural history. Ecology is a branch of
biology, and it is not synonymous
with environmentalism. Among other things, ecology is the study of: Life
processes,
interactions, and
adaptations. The movement of materials and
energy through living communities. The successional development of
ecosystems
Cooperation, competition and predation within and between
species. The abundance,
biomass, and distribution of organisms in the
context of the environment. Patterns of biodiversity and its effect on
ecosystem processes.
Ecosystem is a community of living organisms in
conjunction
with the nonliving components of their environment, things like
air,
water
and
mineral soil, interacting as a system. These
biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through
nutrient
cycles and energy flows. As ecosystems are defined by the
network
of
interactions among
organisms, and between organisms and their
environment, they can be of any size but usually encompass specific,
limited spaces (although some scientists say that the entire planet is an
ecosystem).
Landscaping.
Ecological
Network is a representation of the biotic interactions in an
ecosystem, in which species (nodes) are connected by pairwise interactions
(links). These interactions can be trophic or symbiotic. Ecological
networks are used to describe and compare the structures of real
ecosystems, while network models are used to investigate the effects of
network structure on properties such as ecosystem stability.
Biological Network -
Mycorrhizal Network -
Artificial
Neural Network -
Brain Network
-
Habitat
is the kind of
natural environment in which a particular
species
of
organism lives. It is characterized by both physical and biological
features. A species' habitat is those places where it can find food,
shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. The physical factors are for example
soil,
moisture,
range of
temperature, and
light
intensity as well as
biotic factors such as the availability of
food and the
presence or absence of
predators. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions
in which it will thrive, but some are tolerant of wide variations while
others are very specific in their requirements. A habitat is not
necessarily a geographical area, it can be the interior of a stem, a
rotten log, a rock or a clump of
moss, and
for a
parasitic organism it is the body of its
host, part of the host's body such as the digestive tract, or a
single cell within the host's body. Habitat types include
polar,
temperate,
subtropical and
tropical.
The terrestrial
vegetation type may be
forest,
steppe,
grassland, semi-arid or
desert.
Fresh water habitats include
marshes,
streams,
rivers,
lakes,
ponds and
estuaries,
and marine habitats include salt marshes, the coast, the
intertidal zone,
reefs, bays,
the open sea, the sea bed, deep water and
submarine vents. Habitats change over time. This may be due to a violent event such as
the eruption of a
volcano,
an
earthquake, a
tsunami,
a
wildfire or a change in oceanic currents; or the change may be more
gradual over millennia with alterations in the
climate,
as
ice
sheets and
glaciers
advance and retreat, and as different weather patterns bring changes of
precipitation and
solar radiation. Other changes come as a direct result of human
activities; deforestation, the ploughing of ancient grasslands, the
diversion and damming of rivers, the draining of marshland and the
dredging of the seabed. The
introduction of alien species can have a
devastating effect on native
wildlife, through increased
predation, through competition for resources or through the
introduction of pests and diseases to which the native species have no immunity.
Natural
Resource are resources that exist without any actions of humankind.
This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and
industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and
cultural value. On Earth, it includes sunlight,
atmosphere, water, land, all minerals along with all
vegetation, and
animal life.
Natural resources can be part of our natural heritage or protected in
nature reserves. Particular areas (such as the
rainforest in Fatu-Hiva) often feature biodiversity and geodiversity
in their ecosystems. Natural resources may be classified in different
ways. Natural resources are materials and components (something that can
be used) that can be found within the environment. Every man-made product
is composed of natural resources (at its fundamental level). A natural
resource may exist as a separate entity such as
fresh
water, air, as well as any living organism such as a fish, or it may
exist in an alternate form that must be processed to obtain the resource
such as metal ores,
rare-earth elements, petroleum,
and most forms of energy. There is much debate worldwide over
natural-resource allocations. This is particularly true during periods of
increasing scarcity and shortages (depletion and overconsumption of
resources).
Biomass is the total mass of organisms in a given area or volume.
All weights are measured in carbon mass and are independent of water mass.
Biomass is also a term
for getting energy by burning wood, and other organic matter. 1 gigatonne of carbon = 10^15 grams of carbon. Gigatonne is
1,000,000,000 tonnes or 1 Billion tonnes.
Gigatonne
is also a unit of explosive force equal to one billion (109) tons of
trinitrotoluene (TNT).
Biomass Distribution on Earth: Wild birds: 0.002 gigatonne. Wild mammals: 0.007 gigatonnes. Nematodes
(roundworms): 0.02 gigatonnes. Humans: 0.06 gigatonnes. Livestock: 0.1
gigatonnes. Cnidarians (jellyfish, anemones, etc.): 0.1 gigatonnes.
Annelids (segmented worms): 0.2 gigatonnes. Molluscs (snails, squid,
etc.): 0.2 gigatonnes. Arthropods, terrestrial (insects, spiders, etc):
0.2 gigatonnes. Fish: 0.7 gigatonnes. Arthropods, marine (crabs,
lobsters, etc.): 1 gigatonne. Protists (amoebas, single-celled algae,
etc.): 4 gigatonnes. Archaea (bacteria-like organisms): 7 gigatonnes.
Fungi: 12 gigatonnes. Bacteria: 70 gigatonnes. Plants: 450 gigatonnes.
Biosphere is the regions of the surface and
atmosphere of the Earth where living
organisms exist. Biosphere is also known as the
ecosphere,
which is the
worldwide
sum of all ecosystems.
Earth is
Biosphere 1 -
Biosphere 2 is a
controlled environment that
tries to
mimic biosphere 1 on a
smaller scale.
Terraforming -
Sensory Deprivation -
Solitude -
Space Travel
-
AirPhysical
Environment includes land, air, water, plants and animals,
buildings and other infrastructure, and all of the natural resources that
provide our basic needs and opportunities for social and economic
development. A clean, healthy environment is important for people's
physical and emotional wellbeing.
The Mass of Human-Made Materials Now Equals the Planet’s Biomass.
Earth circa 2020: The mass of all human-produced materials – concrete,
steel, asphalt, etc. – has grown to equal the mass of all life on the
planet, its biomass. According to a new study at the Weizmann Institute of
Science, we are right at this tipping point, and humans are currently
adding new buildings, roads, vehicles and products at a rate that is
doubling every 20 years, leading to a “concrete jungle” that is predicted
to reach over two teratonnes (i.e. two million million) – or more than
double the mass of living things, by 2040.
Ecosphere is a planetary closed
ecological system. In this global
ecosystem, the various forms of energy and matter that constitute a given
planet interact on a continual basis. The forces of the four fundamental
interactions cause the various forms of matter to settle into identifiable
layers. These layers are referred to as component spheres with the type
and extent of each component sphere varying significantly from one
particular ecosphere to another. Component spheres that represent a
significant portion of an ecosphere are referred to as a primary component
spheres. For instance, Earth's ecosphere consists of five primary
component spheres which are the geosphere,
hydrosphere,
biosphere,
atmosphere, and
magnetosphere.
Geosphere the collective name for the lithosphere, the hydrosphere,
the cryosphere, and the
atmosphere.
Cryosphere is those portions of
Earth's surface where
water is in
solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers,
ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes permafrost).
Lithosphere is the rigid, outermost shell of a terrestrial-type planet
or natural satellite that is defined by its rigid mechanical properties.
Hydrosphere is the combined mass of
water found on, under, and above
the surface of a planet, minor planet or natural satellite. It's estimated
that there are 1386 million cubic kilometers of
water
on Earth.
Deserts.
Biotas is all the plant and animal life of
a particular region.
Biome
is a community of
plants and
animals that have common characteristics for the environment they
exist in. They can be found over a range of continents. Biomes are
distinct biological communities that have formed in response to a shared
physical climate. "Biome" is a broader term than "habitat"; any biome can
comprise a variety of
habitats.
Biodiversity or biological
diversity
is the
variety and variability of
life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic
(genetic variability), species (species diversity), and ecosystem
(ecosystem diversity) level. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on
Earth; it is usually greater in the tropics as a result of the warm
climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator.
Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10% of earth's surface and
contain about 90% of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually
higher along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature
is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are
latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends
to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be
likely to slow in the future as a primary result of deforestation. It
encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that
sustain life.
Biodiversity Library improves research methodology by collaboratively
making
biodiversity
literature openly available to the world as part of a global
biodiversity community.
Center for
Biological Diversity believes that the welfare of human beings is
deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast
diversity
of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and
because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all
species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so
through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the
lands, waters and climate that species need to survive. We want those who
come after us to inherit a world where the wild is still alive.
Biodiversity time machine provides insights into a century of loss. AI
analysis shows pollution levels, extreme weather events and increasing
temperatures devastates biodiversity in freshwater lakes.
Unexpected biodiversity on the ocean floor. Hydrothermal vents and
manganese nodule fields in the deep oceans contain more biodiversity than
expected.
Humans can increase biodiversity, archaeological study shows. Through
the ages, the presence of humans has increased the heterogeneity and
complexity of ecosystems and has often had a positive effect on their
biodiversity.
Nature favors creatures in largest and smallest sizes. Life comes in
all shapes and sizes, but some sizes are more popular than others.
Surveying the body sizes of Earth's living organisms, researchers found
that the planet's
biomass -- the material that
makes up all living organisms -- is concentrated in organisms at either
end of the size spectrum.
Are we missing the mark on biodiversity? 90% of countries ignore key
behavior changes. There is a yawning gap between national policies to
enhance biodiversity and the individual and small group behavioral changes
that are critical to making a real difference. The Convention on
Biological Diversity defines biodiversity as: The variability among living
organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and
other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are
part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of
ecosystems.
Health Benefits from being Outdoors in a Natural Environment
Nature is good for you. Exposure to
biodiversity improves health. A
diverse ecosystem supports a varied and beneficial
microbial community
living around us and
inside us. Taking in beneficial substances when we
breathe in forest air
can have many positive
factors. like beneficial bacteria, plant-derived essential oils and
negatively-charged ions or ionized air. We also know that exposure to
green space,
even within urban environments, can increase our physical and mental
well-being. Being in a
park or a
forest,
or visiting the ocean beach, can improve our mood. Nature simply makes us
happy, so spending time outside can help increase our
happiness, as well as, inspire
creativity. There are many other benefits
from spending time in the great outdoors. Spending time in
green spaces can boost your
immunity. It can lower your blood pressure and reduce stress and reduce
the stress-related
hormones,
like cortisol and adrenaline, which may also relieve anxiety and
depression. Being outside soaking
up the sun can also elevate vitamin D levels. Outdoor time can help reduce
inflammation. Being outside is good for your eyesight. Outdoor time can
help improve your
sleep. Being outdoors can
help burn more calories. Outdoor time can sometimes even help relieve
pain naturally. Spending time outdoors can also help us increase our
social interactions. So I guess you can say that we were
born to be outdoors
in
nature.
Shinrin-yoku or
forest bathing, is a practice or process of
therapeutic relaxation where one spends time in a forest or natural
atmosphere, focusing on sensory engagement to connect with nature. Shinrin
in Japanese means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.” So shinrin-yoku means
bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our
senses. It is simply being in nature,
connecting with it through our
senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Shinrin-yoku is like a
bridge.
Grounded -
Moving Meditation.
Biophilia is a hypothesis that suggests that humans possess an innate tendency
to seek
connections with nature and other forms
of life and the urge to affiliate with other forms of life.
Environmental Psychology is an interdisciplinary field that focused on
the interplay between individuals and their surroundings.
Eco-Psychology
studies the relationship between human beings and the natural world
through ecological and psychological principles. The field seeks to
develop and understand ways of expanding the emotional connection between
individuals and the natural world, thereby assisting individuals with
developing
sustainable lifestyles and
remedying
alienation from nature.
Naturalist
Intelligence -
Degradation -
Habitat Loss
Wilderness
Therapy is an adventure-based therapy treatment modality for behavior
modification and interpersonal self-improvement, combining
experiential
education, individual and group therapy in a wilderness setting. The
success of the Outward Bound outdoor education program in the 1940s
inspired the approach taken by many current-day wilderness therapy
programs, though some adopted a survivalist methodology.
Ecological Psychology (wiki).
How environmental factors could provide for a young brain. A
stimulating environment keeps the 'hippocampus' -- which is the brain's
memory control center -- young, so to speak. Causes of this are molecular
mechanisms that affect gene regulation. These current findings from
studies in mice provide clues as to why an active, varied life can help
preserve mental fitness in old age.
Teens benefit from 'forest bathing' -- even in cities.
First-of-its-kind study quantifies the impact
urban and architectural design features
have on adolescent mental health. Youth mental health in
urban environments is
significantly better when more nature is incorporated into
city design. A new study suggests
that forest bathing, the simple method of
being calm and quiet amongst
the trees, observing nature around you
while breathing deeply, can
help youth de-stress and boost health and
well-being.
Study shows reduced inflammation in residents after adding trees to their
neighborhoods. Inflammation is associated with increased risk of heart
disease and cancer. A new project has found that people living in
neighborhoods where the number of trees and shrubs was more than doubled
showed lower levels of a blood marker of
inflammation than
those living outside the planted areas. General inflammation is an
important risk indicator for heart disease and other chronic diseases.
Healthy Eating -
Exercise Benefits -
Avoiding Toxins -
Body Burden
How a walk in nature restores attention. New research by psychologists
demonstrates a peaceful walk through a natural setting enhances attention.
A walk in nature enhances certain
executive control
processes in the brain above and beyond the benefits associated with
exercise.
Feeling Chirpy: Being around birds is linked to lasting mental health
benefits. New research has found that seeing or hearing birds is
associated with an improvement in
mental wellbeing that can last up to eight hours.
Daycares in Finland Built Their Own 'Forests', And It Changed Kids' Immune
Systems. Playing through the greenery and litter of a mini forest's
undergrowth for just one month may be enough to change a child's immune
system, according to an experiment in Finland. When daycare workers rolled
out a lawn, planted forest undergrowth (such as dwarf heather and
blueberries), and allowed children to care for crops in planter boxes, the
diversity of microbes
in the guts and on the skin of young kids appeared healthier in a very
short space of time. Compared to other city kids who play in standard
urban daycares with yards of pavement, tile and gravel, 3-, 4-, and
5-year-olds at these greened-up daycare centers in Finland showed
increased T-cells and other
important immune markers in their blood within 28 days. "We also found
that the intestinal
microbiota of children who received greenery was similar to the
intestinal microbiota of children visiting the forest every day,"
explained environmental scientist Marja Roslund from the University of
Helsinki in 2020, when the research was published.
Barriers prevent everyone enjoying nature equally. A major
international study involving 56,968 adults, aged 18 to 99, has found that
levels of nature connectedness and nature exposure are associated with
several socioeconomic and demographic factors. Higher scores were
significantly associated with being female, being older, having greater
financial security, living in a rural location, being in a committed
relationship, having a higher level of education, and being in a racial
majority in that country.
Planting Trees can save lives, study shows. In
the past 30 years, the non-profit organization
Friends of Trees
planted trees along the streets of Portland, Oregon. Now, a new study
shows that
each tree planted was associated with
significant reductions in non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality (of
20% and 6%, respectively, for
trees planted in
the preceding 15-30 years). The researchers also estimate that the annual
economic benefits of planting trees greatly exceed the cost of maintaining
them. The study, co-led by the
Barcelona Institute
for Global Health, an institution supported by the "
la
Caixa" Foundation, together with the
USDA Forest Service,
was published in
Environment International.
Nature-based activities can improve mood and reduce anxiety. Outdoor
nature-based activities are effective for improving mental health in
adults, including those with pre-existing mental health problems, a new
study has found.
Nature
Deficit Disorder is the idea that human beings, especially children,
are spending less time outdoors, and the belief that this change results
in a wide range of behavioral problems.
Play Grounds.
Mutual Reliance - Coexistence - Symbiosis
Mutualism is the way two organisms of different
species exist in a
relationship in which each individual
benefits from the
activity of the other. Similar interactions within a species are known as
co-operation.
Mutualism can be contrasted with
interspecific competition,
in which each species experiences reduced fitness, and
exploitation, or
parasitism, in which
one species benefits at the "expense" of the other. Symbiosis involves two
species living in close proximity and includes relationships that are
mutualistic,
parasitic, and commensal.
Mutualistic is the relation between two
different species of organisms that are
interdependent; each gains benefits from the other.
Working Together
-
Balance
-
Harmony
-
Reciprocation -
Sharing
-
Sustainable -
Feedback
Loop -
Mimic
- Dualism
Co-Operation in evolution is the process where groups of
organisms work
or
act together for common or mutual benefits. It is commonly defined as
any adaptation that has evolved, at least in part, to increase the
reproductive success of the actor’s social partners.
Unity of
Opposites defines a situation in which the existence or identity of a
thing (or situation) depends on the co-existence of at least two
conditions which are opposite to each other, yet dependent on each other
and presupposing each other, within a field of tension.
Symbiotic is when organisms mutually
benefit from each other
when
living together. A
relationship that
reciprocates.
Symbiosis is a close and often long-term
interaction
between two different biological species. "If you help me to stay alive
then I will help you to stay alive, for if one of us dies, we may both die."
Symbiotic Relationships List (wiki) -
List of Symbiotic Organisms (wiki)
Symbiogenesis holds that the organelles distinguishing eukaryote
cells
evolved through symbiosis of individual single-celled prokaryotes
(bacteria and archaea).
Superorganism is
a group of synergetically-interacting organisms of the same species. A
community of synergetically-interacting organisms of different species is
called a holobiont.
Synergy
is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a
whole that is greater than the
simple sum of its parts (i.e., a non-linear addition of force, energy,
or effect).
Synergetics is the empirical study of systems in
transformation, with an emphasis on total system behavior unpredicted by
the behavior of any isolated components, including humanity's role as both
participant and observer.
Diverse diets of civets in Borneo rainforest allow them to live in same
geographical area. Typically, closely related animal species have
difficulty coexisting because they are competing for similar resources.
Despite eating the same figs, binturong, small-toothed palm, masked palm,
and common palm civets do coexist together. To understand how they
coexist, a new study explores their degree of
faunivory.
Organismic Computing is a form of engineered human computation that
employs technology to enable "shared sensing, collective reasoning, and
coordinated action" within human groups toward goal-directed behavior.
This biomimetic approach to augmenting group efficacy seeks to improve
synergy by allowing a group of individuals to function as a single
intelligent superorganism.
Gaia Hypothesis
proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings
on Earth to form a
synergistic and
self-regulating complex system that helps
to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet.
How plants compensate symbiotic microbes. Combining economics,
psychology and studies of fertilizer application, researchers find that
plants nearly follow an '
equal pay for equal work'
rule when giving resources to partner microbes - except when those
microbes under-perform.
Endosymbiont is an organism that lives within the body or cells of
another organism. Typically the two organisms are in a mutualistic
relationship. Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria (called rhizobia),
which live in the root nodules of legumes, single-cell algae inside
reef-building corals and bacterial endosymbionts that provide essential
nutrients to insects.
Photosymbiosis is a type of symbiosis where one of the organisms is
capable of photosynthesis. Examples of photosymbiotic relationships
include those in lichens, plankton, ciliates, and many marine organisms
including corals, fire corals, giant clams, and jellyfish. Photosymbiosis
is important in the development, maintenance, and evolution of terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems, for example in biological soil crusts, soil
formation, supporting highly diverse microbial populations in soil and
water, and coral reef growth and maintenance. Plagiomnium affine moss
cells with visible chloroplasts—a type of plastid. When one organism lives
within another symbiotically it’s called endosymbiosis. Photosymbiotic
relationships where microalgae and/or cyanobacteria live within a
heterotrophic host organism, are believed to have led to eukaryotes
acquiring photosynthesis and to the evolution of plants.
Interdependence
is the
mutual reliance between two or more groups. This concept differs
from the reliance in a dependent relationship, where some members are
dependent and some are not. There
can be various degrees of interdependence.
Intercropping.
Team finds reliable predictor of plant species persistence, coexistence.
Ecological scientists have long sought ways to measure and predict how
specific plant communities will fare over time. Which species in a diverse
population will persist and coexist? Which will decline? What factors
might contribute to continuing biodiversity? Researchers report on a new
method for determining whether pairs or groups of plant species are likely
to coexist over time.
Compatible is
something that is able to exist and perform in
harmonious or
agreeable
combination with other things. Something that is
capable of being used with or
connected
to other
devices or components without modification.
Harmonies (music).
Microbes and Humans
-
Connected -
Interactions -
Bio-Mimicry -
Biodiversity Interrelated is
reciprocally
connected. A
mutual
relationship. A
back-and-forth
interaction, doing something in return.
Counterpart is a person or thing
holding a position or performing a function that corresponds to that of
another person or thing in another place.
Coexistence the state of two or more things
existing together, usually in a temporal or spatial sense, with or without
mutual interaction.
Warming stops tiny organisms working together. Hotter conditions
prevent two tiny organisms working together for mutual benefit, new
research shows. The breakdown of such relationships could have a major
impact on ecosystems. Photosymbiosis is an important part of freshwater
and ocean ecosystems.
Warming Planet.
Humans should be more like symbiotic plants and less like
predatory animals.
Parasites -
Chaos.
Interspecies Friendship is a nonsexual
bond that is formed between animals of different species.
Interspecies relationships are between an
organism and other species. They always benefit one party. Interspecies
relationships are very important because they affect essential processes
such as food chains and nutrient cycles. Over time coevolution can occur
in response to the way species interact. Numerous cases of interspecies
friendships among wild and domesticated animals have been reported and
documented with photography and video. Domestication of animals has led to
interspecies friendships between species that would never naturally exist
together. In many cases of interspecies friendship, the species are not
normally seen together, and sometimes, one is of a species that ordinarily
preys on the other in nature. The concept of interspecies friendship is
similar to that of mutualism in that two individuals from different
species exist in a relationship where each organism benefits from the
activity of the other. Reasons for the formation of interspecies
friendships include domestication, interspecies communication, mutually
beneficial exchanges, desire for social bonding, protection, or is often
unknown.
18 kind animals that adopted other species -
Animal adoptions make no evolutionary sense.
20 Unbelievable Animals Who Adopted Other Animals (youtube) -
15 Animals Adopting Other Animal Species (youtube)
Wild birds lead people to honey -- and learn from them. The greater
honeyguide can recognize distinct vocal signals to help people in Africa
locate bee colonies.
Feathered friends can become unlikely helpers for tropical coral reefs
facing climate change threat. A new study has found that the presence of
seabirds on islands adjacent to tropical coral reefs can boost coral
growth rates on those reefs by more than double.
Generosity is usually
defined in evolutionary terms as
altruism. This is when
an individual acts in a way that costs valuable resources or time, with no
expectation of repayment.
Humans may have evolved
to be kinder to one another, or at least to suppress their tendency to
lash out in anger.
Plants providing each other with nutrients,
fish remove parasite from each other's scales, ants build nests together,
predators hunt in packs and bees will even give their own life for the
benefit of the hive.
Relationships between plants and insects in forest ecosystems.
Researchers have published new findings on how leaf-eating insects affect
forest ecosystems worldwide. Researchers are aware of how large herbivores
cycle nutrients in forests. They know much less, however, about how
leaf-eating insects impact forest carbon and nutrient cycling.
Transcriptome Analysis illuminates the nature of the
intracellular
interaction in a vertebrate-algal symbiosis.
Biological Interaction is the effect that a pair of organisms living
together in a
community
have on each other. They can be either of the same species (intraspecific
interactions), or of different species (interspecific interactions). These
effects may be short-term, like pollination and predation, or long-term;
both often strongly influence the evolution of the species involved. A
long-term interaction is called a symbiosis. Symbioses range from
mutualism, beneficial to both partners, to competition, harmful to both
partners. Interactions can be indirect, through intermediaries such as
shared resources or common enemies. This type of relationship can be shown
by net effect based on individual effects on both organisms arising out of
relationship.
Ecology.
Domestication is a
sustained multi-generational
relationship in which
one group of organisms assumes a
significant degree of influence over the
reproduction and care of another group to secure a more predictable supply
of resources from that second group.
Heredity (human
nature)
System Integration is defined as the process of bringing
together the component subsystems into one
system and ensuring that the
subsystems function together as a system.
Non-Linear is a system in which the output is not
directly proportional to the input.
Sigmoid
Function is a mathematical function having an "S" shaped
curve (sigmoid curve).
Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (wiki) -
Convention on
Biological Diversity -
Aichi
International
Union for Conservation of Nature -
National
Ecological Observatories Network -
National Ecological Observatory Network (wiki)
STReam Experimental Observatory Network (STREON)
The
Goldman Environmental Prize honors grassroots
environmental activists. "There is no Planet B".
Sharing -
Sociology
-
Social Intelligence -
Green Economy -
Sustainability -
Biodiversity Hotspot -
The Limits to Growth -
Energy -
Restoration Ecology -
Geotechnical Engineering -
Awareness -
Problem Solving
Restoration - Conservation - Preservation - Protection
Environmental Protection is the practice of
protecting the natural
environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives
are to
conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment
and, where possible, to repair
damage and reverse trends.
Sustainable -
Maintenance -
Responsibility -
Damages -
Consent to Operate
-
Divest -
Extinctions
Preservation or
preserving is the activity of protecting something from loss or danger,
and to maintain something in its original state and quality. To keep
something safe from harm or injury.
Self-Preservation is the behavior that ensures the survival of an
organism.
Historic Preservation is the endeavor to preserve, conserve and
protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts.
Heritage Preservation is to preserve the nation's heritage.
Library Preservation is a set of preventive conservation activities
aimed at prolonging the life of a record, book, or object while making as
few changes as possible.
Digital preservation, endeavor to ensure that digital information of
continuing value remains accessible and usable.
Knowledge Preservation
-
Transcending.
Environmental
Remediation deals with the
removal of pollution or
contaminants from environmental media such as
soil,
groundwater, sediment, or surface
water. This would mean that once
requested by the government or a land remediation authority,
immediate
action should be taken as this can
impact negatively on human health and
the environment.
Nano-Remediation.
Environmental Epidemiology is the branches of epidemiology concerned
with the discovery of the
environmental exposures that contribute to or
protect against injuries, illnesses,
developmental conditions,
disabilities, and deaths; and identification of
public health and health
care actions to
manage the risks associated with
harmful exposures.
Environmental Health is the branch of public health that is concerned
with all aspects of the natural and built environment that may
affect
human health. Other terms referring to or concerning environmental health
are environmental public health, and
public health protection /
environmental health protection.
Public Lands (mix use) -
Benefits from being Outdoors
Environmental Quality is a set of properties and characteristics of
the environment, either generalized or local, as they impinge on human
beings and other organisms. It is a measure of the condition of an
environment relative to the requirements of one or more species and or to
any human need or
purpose.
Conservation is an
ethic of resource use, allocation, and
protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the
natural world, its fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity.
Secondary focus is on
materials conservation, including non-renewable
resources such as metals, minerals and fossil fuels, and
energy conservation, which is important to protect the natural world. Those who
follow the conservation ethic and, especially, those who advocate or work
toward conservation goals are termed conservationists.
Conservatorship -
Steward
-
Activism -
Overconsumption
-
Divesting
Conservationist is a person who
advocates
or acts for the protection and preservation of the environment and
wildlife. (not to be confused with a
political conservative.)
-
List of Conservationists (wiki).
Conservation Movement is a
social
movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal and
plant species as well as their habitat for the future. Evidence-based
conservation seeks to use high quality scientific evidence to make
conservation efforts more effective.
Cultural Conservation -
Conservation of Mass
American
Prairie is creating the largest nature reserve in the contiguous
United States.
Conservation Biology is the study of the
conservation of nature and of
Earth's
biodiversity with the aim of
protecting
species, their
habitats, and
ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and
the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject
drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural
resource management. The conservation ethic is based on the findings of
conservation biology.
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern is a conservation ecology
program in the Western United States, managed by the
Bureau of Land Management.
Scientists call for an update in environmental decision making that takes
human rights into account. Researchers argue that to protect human
wellbeing global decisions with the potential to impact the environment
must be guided by our understanding of the inseparable connection between
humans and nature. The article's authors are aiming to support fair and
inclusive decision-making for a healthy ocean for people and planet.
Biodiversity law that forces builders to compensate for nature loss could
be twice as effective, experts claim. Recent rules that require all
new building and road projects in England to address and offset their
impact on nature are excellent in principle but flawed in their
implementation, leading environmental economists argue.
Billions in conservation spending fail to improve wild fish stocks in
Columbia Basin. Four decades of conservation spending totaling more
than $9 billion in inflation-adjusted tax dollars has failed to improve
stocks of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin.
Protecting just 0.7% of world's land could help save a third of most
unique and endangered species. At present, however, just 20% of the
areas identified in the study are under some form of protection, with most
areas facing consistent and increasing levels of human pressure. The
project identified specific areas of conservation interest with
exceedingly high levels of threatened evolutionarily history that are
marked by their concentration of Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally
Endangered species. Evolutionary distinctiveness quantifies how unique a
species is, with some being the result of long periods of unique
evolutionary history with few or no close living relatives. Meanwhile,
global endangerment reflects the extinction risk of a species. Species
that score highly on both measures are known as EDGE species, while the
areas in which these species are found in high concentrations are referred
to as EDGE Zones. The study mapped the distribution of almost 3,000 EDGE
species, identifying 25 EDGE Zones where conservation efforts can have the
greatest impact.
Protected nature reserves alone are insufficient for reversing
biodiversity loss.
Reversing environmental decline: Lessons from African communities. In
rural Africa, where livelihoods are often tied directly to the land,
environmental degradation poses a critical threat to both ecosystems and
people's well-being. New research reveals ways to tackle the dual
challenges of land degradation and poverty.
Environmentalist is a supporter of the goals of the environmental
movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and
protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to
environmentally
harmful human activities". An
environmentalist is engaged in or believes in the philosophy of
environmentalism, which is the concern for environmental protection
and the improvement of the health of the environment.
Natural Law -
Earth
Savers -
Eco-Initiatives -
Restoring -
CO2 Conversion
Planet Wild is a
global community of individuals that want to give back to nature by
funding frontline ecosystem restoration missions where it really matters.
Our missions are based on community votes, vetted for high impact, and
video-documented for anyone to see first hand.
Reductionism -
Interconnectivity -
Sustainable Development
Ecological Design
is any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts
by integrating itself with living processes." Ecological design is an
integrative ecologically responsible design discipline.
Land Improvement refers to altering the landscape in any
number of ways such as: Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural
state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing. Subdividing real
estate into lots, typically for the purpose of building homes. Real estate
development or changing its purpose, for example by converting an unused
factory complex into condominia.
Lead Foundation
conducts large-scale nature-based solution projects in Tanzania.
Dry Land Farming.
Nature Reserve
is a
protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features
of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for
conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research.
Exponential Growth
-
Scalability -
Scale
Open Source Ecology is a network of farmers,
engineers, architects and supporters, whose main goal is the eventual
manufacturing of the
Global Village
Con-struction Set (GVCS).
Ephemeralization is to do more and more with less and less
until eventually you can do everything with nothing.
Ephemeral is the concept of things being transitory,
existing only briefly.
Soil Knowledge
Land Use
involves the management and
modification of natural environment or
wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural
habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. It also has
been defined as "the total of arrangements, activities, and inputs that
people undertake in a certain land cover type.
Environmental Psychology
Safe Harbor Agreement is for participating private and non-federal
property landowners who voluntarily undertake activities on their property
to enhance, restore, or maintain
habitat
benefiting ESA-listed species.
Thirty by thirty is an ambitious answer to growing calls for
protecting more of our planet's surface. The goal is to conserve 30% of
the Earth's oceans, lands and freshwaters by 2030. While this may seem a
lofty aim, the diversity and coverage of conservation areas today might be
greater than what's currently recognized by global tracking systems.
Built
Environment refers to the manmade surroundings that provide the
setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings and parks
or green space to neighborhoods and cities that can often include their
supporting infrastructure, such as water supply or energy networks. The
built environment is a material, spatial and cultural product of human
labor that combines physical elements and energy in forms for living,
working and playing. It has been defined as "the humanitarian-made space
in which people live, work, and recreate on a day-to-day basis.
City Development -
Sustainability -
Green Building -
Activism
Environmental Movement is a diverse scientific, social, and political
movement for addressing environmental issues.
History shows that humans are good for biodiversity... sometimes.
Humans have been an important driver of vegetation change over thousands
of years, and, in some places, had positive impacts on biodiversity,
according to a new study.
Forest restoration can boost people, nature and climate simultaneously.
Integrated plans would deliver over 80% of the benefits in all three areas
at once. The researchers used a framework called
Nature's Contribution to People, which emphasizes a holistic
relationship between restoration and benefits to humanity, including
equity. The results showed that integrated forest restoration plans (aimed
at multiple goals) deliver on average 83.3% of climate change mitigation
NCP, 89.9% of biodiversity value NCP and 93.9% of societal NCP delivered
by single-objective plans.
Environmental
Policy refers to the
commitment of an organization to the laws,
regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental
issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, solid
waste management, ecosystem management, maintenance of biodiversity, the
protection of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species. Policies
concerning energy or regulation of toxic substances including pesticides
and many types of industrial waste are part of the topic of environmental
policy. This policy can be deliberately taken to direct and oversee human
activities and thereby prevent harmful effects on the biophysical
environment and natural resources, as well as to make sure that changes in
the environment do not have harmful effects on humans.
How to balance biodiversity goals with limited economic resources. In
2019, a landmark report gave the world its first report card on
biodiversity loss. There was one crystal clear conclusion: human actions
threaten more species with global extinction than ever before. Now, a
research team has reviewed combining conservation with practical economic
tools using a case study of Colombia, South America, a high priority but
underfunded country for biodiversity conservation.
Climate scientist identifying water requirements for climate mitigation
through ecosystem restoration. Worldwide, deforestation and farming
practices are responsible for the degradation of vital ecosystems. While
there is a significant amount of interest in climate mitigation by
restoring those degraded lands with forests and other ecosystems, it is
unclear how feasible that would be and the resulting benefits. Previous
studies have not considered the effects of ecosystem restoration on
available water resources and in environments with water constraints.
Water scarcity is already a key issue worldwide that is likely to only get
worse in the future.
15 most pressing issues for conservation, including invertebrate
decline and changing marine ecosystems. Since 2009, the
Cambridge
Conservation Initiative has coordinated an annual horizon scan, a
well-established method for predicting which
threats,
changes, and
technologies will have the biggest impact on
biological conservation in the following year. This year, the 15th horizon
scan included 31 scientists, practitioners, and policymakers who developed
a list of 96 issues, which they eventually narrowed down to the fifteen
most novel and impactful. Their findings include topics related to
sustainable energy, declining invertebrate populations, and changing
marine ecosystems.
UK air pollution regulations will reduce deaths, but do little to protect
ecosystems. Existing air pollution regulations will reduce thousands
of premature adult deaths in the UK, but even the most effective
technically feasible actions, which will save thousands more lives, will
do little to protect the country's sensitive ecosystems, find researchers.
Wildlife
Conservation tends to save charismatic species. That may be about to
change.
New research shows people, wildlife, and marine environment benefit when
island-ocean connections are restored. Rewilding islands and breaking
down artificial silos for big marine and terrestrial gains. A new
perspective shows that linking land and sea through coordinated
conservation efforts may offer unrealized and
amplified benefits for
biodiversity,
human wellbeing,
climate resilience and ocean
health, and provides a microcosm for the untapped potential of ecosystem
restoration on a larger scale.
Restoring and
rewilding islands that have been decimated by
damaging invasive species provides
benefits to not only the terrestrial ecosystem but to coastal and marine
environments as well. Linking land and sea through coordinated
conservation efforts may offer unrealized and amplified benefits for
biodiversity, human wellbeing, climate resilience and ocean health, and
provides a microcosm for the untapped potential of ecosystem restoration
on a larger scale. This new era of conservation focuses on the
interconnectedness of all ecosystems, rather than
pursuing individual pieces through siloed efforts.
Antiquities Act is a law that gives the President of the United States
the authority to, by presidential proclamation, create national monuments
from public lands to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific
features. The Act has been used over a hundred times since its passage.
Its use occasionally creates significant controversy. Act passed by the
United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June
8, 1906.
Social
Environment refers to the immediate physical and social setting in
which people live or in which something happens or develops. It
includes the culture that the individual was educated or lives in, and the
people and institutions with whom they interact.
Protecting lands slows biodiversity loss among vertebrates by five times.
Vertebrate abundance decreased five times more slowly inside protected
areas, offering much-needed support for the United Nations' '
30
by 30' conservation initiative. Human activity has accelerated the
natural extinction rate of vertebrates by 22 times. Such biodiversity loss
can destabilize food webs and jeopardize the many benefits biodiversity
provides to people, including crop pollination, healthy diets and disease
control.
Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary academic field that
integrates physical, biological and information sciences (including
ecology, biology, physics, chemistry, zoology, mineralogy, oceanology,
limnology, soil science, geology, atmospheric science, and geodesy) to the
study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems.
Environment in systems is the part of the universe that is being
studied, while the environment is the remainder of the universe that
lies outside the boundaries of the system. It is also known as the
surroundings or neighborhood, and in thermodynamics, as the reservoir.
Depending on the type of system, it may interact with the environment by
exchanging mass, energy (including heat and work), linear momentum,
angular momentum, electric charge, or other conserved properties. In some
disciplines, such as information theory, information may also be
exchanged. The environment is ignored in analysis of the system, except in
regard to these interactions.
Environmental Education refers to organized
efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how
human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably.
Classroom
environmental education doesn't change attitudes when children
don't receive a good education
to begin with. Conservationists have promoted educational activities
to increase children's understanding and
awareness of environmental
issues, but new research shows that this doesn't always translate to them
changing their attitudes or encourage them to become
more involved in protecting the environment.
Environmental Impact Assessment includes the
positive and negative environmental
consequences of a plan, policy,
program, or concrete projects prior to the decision to move forward with
the proposed action.
Environmental Indicator measures that tell us what
is happening in the environment.
Environmental Engineering -
Trees -
Cary Institute
researches the environmental issues
Environmental Performance Index is a method of quantifying
and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's
policies.
National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center brings together the
science of the natural world with the science of human behavior and
decision-making to find solutions to complex environmental problems.
Maryland Environmental Trust serves as the statewide land trust that
holds over 1,070 conservation easements permanently protecting over
132,000 acres in Maryland. Its programs include Land
Conservation,
Monitoring and
Stewardship, Local Land Trust Assistance and the Keep Maryland
Beautiful Grants Program. The Land Conservation Program assists landowners
with permanently protecting the natural, scenic and/or historic resources
of their land primarily with conservation easements. The mission of the
Maryland Environmental Trust is to provide landowners with information and
tools to permanently protect natural, historic and scenic resources in the
state and to conserve, improve, stimulate, and perpetuate the aesthetic,
natural, health and welfare, scenic, and cultural qualities of the
environment, including, but not limited to land, water, air, wildlife,
scenic qualities, open spaces, buildings or any interest therein, and
other appurtenances pertaining in any way to the State. Through
educational and other means, the Trust shall encourage and motivate the
populace of the State and others to do so and shall promote continuing
interest in and the study of these matters. The purpose of the Trust is of
general benefit to the citizens of the State, and it is charitable in
nature. The Maryland Environmental Trust is governed by a 19-member Board
of Trustees with 15 trustees as volunteer citizens representing diverse
areas of the state.
Conservation Management System is a procedure for
maintaining a species or habitat in a particular state.
IU scientists discover 'supramolecule' that could help reduce nuclear,
agricultural waste (
Sodium
Bisulfate).
Nature-based management is making rivers more resilient. From short
sections of river to corridors to catchments, nature-based, rather than
engineering solutions should be implemented and that greater resources
should be devoted to adaptive river management, and that knowledge and
understanding should be preserved by institutions, and that practitioners
should have more influence in formulating government policy.
New tools capture economic benefit of restoring urban streams. An
interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a suite of tools to
estimate the total economic value of improving water quality in urban
streams. The work can assist federal and state agencies charged with
developing environmental regulations affecting urban ecosystems across the
Piedmont Region of the United States, which stretches from Maryland to
Alabama. the researchers developed an "ecological production function
framework" that translates observable, biophysical measures of water
quality into ecological outcomes that people perceive and value. For
example, a biotic index is a scale that uses the diversity of species in a
waterbody to assess a stream's overall ecosystem health, which is an
ecological output that the public values. Specifically, the framework
draws on existing water quality monitoring data and uses computational
modeling to predict water quality changes related to various regulatory
interventions. The framework then leverages expert assessments of how
these water quality changes translate into ecological endpoints the public
values. A stated preference survey of area residents is then used to
quantify the public's willingness to pay for these outcomes -- and, by
extension, for improvements in stream water quality. Ecological production
functions are mathematical expressions that estimate the effects of
changes in the structure, function and dynamics of an ecosystem on outputs
that are directly relevant and useful to decision makers.
First evidence for new molecular structure could open doors to chemical
solutions for environmental problems.
People enhanced the environment, not degraded it, over past 13,000 years.
Restoration is the process of restoring something to its former good
condition.
The Power of "RE".
Regenerative Design is a process-oriented systems theory based
approach to design. The term "regenerative" describes processes that
restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials,
creating sustainable systems that integrate the needs of society with the
integrity of nature.
Biomimicry
-
Geo-Engineering -
Divest
Regenerative Agriculture is a sub-sector practice of organic farming
designed to build soil health or to regenerate unhealthy soils. The
practices associated with regenerative agriculture are those identified
with other approaches to
organic farming, including maintaining a high
percentage of organic matter in soils, minimum tillage, biodiversity,
composting, mulching,
crop rotation, cover crops, and green manures.
Sustainable.
Regeneration in ecology states that not only are single organisms capable of
regeneration but Ecosystems are regenerative as well, although not on a
cellular level but rather - as a complex system composed of myriads of
organisms and their habitat - on the level of interactions of whole
populations and their environment. Resilience to minor disturbances is one
characteristic feature of healthy ecosystems. Following major (lethal)
disturbances, such as a fire or pest outbreak in a forest, an immediate
return to the previous dynamic equilibrium will not be possible. Instead,
pioneering species will occupy, compete for space, and establish
themselves in the newly opened habitat. The new growth of seedlings and
community assembly process is known as regeneration in ecology. As
ecological succession sets in, a forest will slowly regenerate towards its
former state within the succession (climax or any intermediate stage),
provided that all outer parameters (climate, soil fertility availability
of nutrients, animal migration paths, air pollution or the absence
thereof, etc.) remain unchanged.
Restoration Ecology the practice of renewing and restoring degraded,
damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and
habitats in the environment by active
human intervention and action.
Self-Healing.
Centre for
Justice Governance and Environmental Action.
Institute for
Catastrophic Loss Reduction.
Rewilding in
conservation biology is large-scale
conservation aimed at restoring and protecting natural processes and core
wilderness areas, providing connectivity between such areas, and
protecting or reintroducing apex predators and keystone species.
Habitat Destruction
Re-Wilding in Anarchism means to return to a more wild
or natural state; it is the process of undoing domestication.
Rewilding -
Animals -
Plants
World's Largest Reforestation Program Overlooks Wildlife Seeing the
Forest for the Trees: After years of environmental destruction, China has
spent billions of dollars on the world's largest reforestation program,
converting a combined area nearly the size of New York and Pennsylvania
back to forest. (69.2 million acres) Must avoid
Monoculture.
Large herbivores such as elephants, bison and moose contribute to tree
diversity. Using global satellite data, a research team has mapped the
tree cover of the world's protected areas. The study shows that regions
with abundant large herbivores in many settings have a more variable tree
cover, which is expected to benefit biodiversity overall. Maintaining
species-rich and resilient ecosystems is key to preserving biodiversity
and mitigating climate change. Here, megafauna -- the part of the animal
population in an area that is made up of the largest animals -- plays an
important role.
Grain for Green
program in 1999 as an ambitious conservation program designed to mitigate
and prevent soil erosion. It is an example of Payment for ecosystem
services which is helping to solve Environmental issues in China. The
program is designed to retire farmland that is susceptible to soil
erosion, although some farmers may go back to farming the land after the
program ends.
Payment for Ecosystem Services are incentives offered to farmers or
landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide some sort of
ecological service. They have been defined as "a transparent system for
the additional provision of environmental services through conditional
payments to voluntary providers." These programmes promote the
conservation of natural resources in the marketplace.
Consent to Operate -Consent to Establish.
Habitat Conservation is a management practice
that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitat areas for wild plants
and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their
extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range.
Habitat Conservation -
Geo-Engineering.
Conservation Reliant Species are animal or plant species
that require continuing species-specific wildlife management intervention
such as predator control, habitat management and parasite control to
survive, even when a self-sustainable recovery in population is achieved.
Recognizing the Rights of Nature.
Community Environmental Legal
Defense Fund.
Creating and Restoring Wildlife Habitat
Alert Conservation.
The Ecology Global
Network.
Rights of Nature is a legal and jurisprudential theory that describes
inherent rights as associated
with ecosystems and species, similar to the concept of
fundamental human rights. The rights of
nature concept challenges twentieth-century laws as generally grounded in
a flawed frame of nature as "resource", to be owned, used, and degraded.
Proponents argue that laws grounded in rights of nature direct humanity to
act appropriately and in a way consistent with modern, system-based
science, which demonstrates that humans and the natural world are
fundamentally interconnected. This school of thought is underpinned by two
basic lines of reasoning. First, since the recognition of human rights is
based in part on the philosophical belief that those rights emanate from
humanity's own existence, logically, so too do inherent rights of the
natural world arise from the natural world's own existence. A second and
more pragmatic argument asserts that the survival of humans depends on
healthy ecosystems, and so protection of nature's rights in turn, advances
human rights and well-being. From a rights of nature perspective, most
environmental laws of the twentieth century are based on an outmoded
framework that considers nature to be composed of separate and independent
parts, rather than components of a larger whole. A more significant
criticism is that those laws tend to be subordinate to economic interests,
and aim at reacting to and just partially mitigating economics-driven
degradation, rather than placing nature's right to thrive as the primary
goal of those laws. This critique of existing environmental laws is an
important component of tactics such as climate change litigation that
seeks to force societal action to mitigate climate change. As of 2019,
rights of nature laws exist at the local to national levels in 13
countries, including dozens of cities and counties throughout the United
States. They take the form of constitutional provisions, treaty
agreements, statutes, local ordinances, and court decisions.
Environmental Personhood. Bangladesh became the first country to grant
all of its rivers the same legal status as humans. From now on, its
rivers will be treated as living entities in a court of law. The landmark
ruling by the Bangladeshi Supreme Court is meant to protect the world's
largest delta from further degradation from pollution, illegal dredging
and human intrusion. Following the ruling, anyone accused of harming
the rivers can be taken to court by the new, government-appointed National
River Conservation Commission. They may be tried and delivered a verdict
as if they had harmed their own mother. The river is now considered by
law, by code, a living entity, so you'll have to face the consequence by
law if you do anything that kills the river.
In 2008, Ecuador became the first country to enshrine the legal rights of
nature in its constitution. Bolivia passed a similar law in 2011.
Ocean Protection -
Plastics
High Seas
Treaty will provide a
legal
framework for establishing
marine protected areas to protect against the loss of wildlife and
share out the genetic resources of the
high
seas. It includes the establishment of a conference of the parties
that will meet periodically, and enable signatory states to be held to
account on the treaty's implementation. Before the treaty can come into
force, it needs to be formally adopted at a later UN session and then
ratified by at least sixty parties to the treaty.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea agreed by an
intergovernmental conference at the UN on 4 March 2023. Its full formal
title is Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea on the conservation and
sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national
jurisdiction. The high seas have long suffered exploitation due to
commercial fishing and mining, as well as
pollution
from chemicals and plastics. The new agreement is about "acknowledging
that the ocean is not a limitless resource, and it requires global
cooperation to use the ocean sustainably. The treaty will create a new
body to manage conservation of ocean life and establish marine protected
areas in the high seas. The historic treaty is a major step toward the
goal to protect at least 30% of ocean areas by 2030 — a target President
Biden laid out for the U.S. in 2021 and part of a broader land and marine
conservation U.N.-led commitment known as 30x30.
Damage - Destruction - Degradation
Environmental Degradation is the
deterioration of the
environment through
depletion of resources such as air, water and soil.
The destruction of ecosystems and the
extinction of wildlife.
Pollution -
Climate Change
-
Chaos -
Crisis -
Consequences -
Side Effects -
Restoration
Ecocide is criminalized human activity that
violates the principles of environmental justice, as by
substantially damaging or destroying ecosystems or by harming the health
and well-being of a species (including humans). Ecocide has not yet been
accepted as an internationally punishable crime by the United Nations.
STOP ECOCIDE FOUNDATION.
Damage is to cause
injury or
harm that
reduces
value or
usefulness of someone or something. To break something,
sometimes
beyond repair and
not able to perform its normal function.
Render something ineffective or ruin something completely. Cause something
to separate into pieces or fragments. Stop something from operating or
functioning. Damage can also mean any
harm or
injury resulting from a
violation of a legal right. Act in
disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or
promises.
Deterioration is a symptom
that
reduces the quality or strength of something or someone.
The process of
changing something to an
inferior state.
Degradation is changing something to a lower state that is more
vulnerable to
death or
damage.
Degrade is to
reduce in worth or the
character of
something or someone.
Depreciation
is a decrease in
value of an asset
or resource.
Ruin is a state of devastation and
destruction that is irrecoverable or
incapable of being
recovered or regained. The process of becoming dilapidated. An event
that results in destruction. Destruction achieved by causing something to
be wrecked. Damage beyond use or repair. Destroy or
cause to fail.
Destruction is the termination of something
by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or
no longer exists.
Devastation is the state of being decayed or destroyed. An event
that results in total destruction.
Plundering with
excessive damage and destruction.
Destroy
is to physically or morally damage something beyond use or repair. The
undoing of something or to do away with something.
No
Man's Land is waste or unowned land, or an uninhabited or desolate
area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out
of fear or uncertainty.
Ecological
Crisis
occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population
destabilizes its continued survival. A few possible causes include:
Degradation of an abiotic ecological factor (for example, increase of
temperature, less significant rainfalls). Increased pressures from
predation. Rise in the number of individuals (overpopulation). The
evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium sees infrequent ecological
crises as a potential driver of rapid evolution.
With the planet facing a 'polycrisis', biodiversity researchers uncover
major knowledge gaps. Connecting the study of infectious disease
spread, biodiversity loss and climate change could offer win-win-win
solutions for planetary health. Connecting the study of infectious disease
spread, biodiversity loss and climate change could offer win-win-win
solutions for planetary health, but a new analysis has uncovered almost no
research integrating the three global crises.
Dead Zones are
hypoxic or low-oxygen areas in the world's oceans and large lakes.
Hypoxia occurs when dissolved oxygen concentration falls to or below 2 mg
of O2/liter. When a body of water experiences hypoxic conditions, aquatic
flora and fauna begin to change behavior in order to reach sections of
water with higher oxygen levels. Once DO declines below 0.5 ml O2/liter in
a body of water, mass mortality occurs. Dead zones can be classified by
type, and are identified by the length of their occurrence: Permanent dead
zones are deep water occurrences that rarely exceed 2 milligrams per
liter. Temporary dead zones are short lived dead zones lasting hours or
days. Seasonal dead zones are annually occurring, typically in warm months
of summer and autumn. Diel cycling hypoxia is a specific seasonal dead
zone that only becomes hypoxic during the night.
Ocean
Deoxygenation is the reduction of the oxygen content in different
parts of the ocean due to human activities.
Ecological Collapse refers to a situation where an ecosystem suffers a
drastic, possibly permanent, reduction in
carrying
capacity for all organisms, often resulting in
mass extinction.
Usually, an
ecological collapse is precipitated by a disastrous event
occurring on a short time scale. Ecological collapse can be considered as
a consequence of ecosystem collapse on the biotic elements that depended
on the original ecosystem. Ecosystems have the ability to
rebound from a
disruptive agent. The difference between
collapse or a gentle rebound is
determined by two factors—the toxicity of the introduced element and the
resiliency of the original ecosystem. Through natural selection the
planet's species have continuously adapted to change through variation in
their biological composition and distribution. Mathematically it can be
demonstrated that greater numbers of different biological factors tend to
dampen fluctuations in each of the individual factors. Scientists can
predict tipping points for ecological collapse. The most frequently used
model for predicting food web collapse is called R50, which is a reliable
measurement model for food web robustness.
Why Past Civilizations Failed.
Ecosystem Collapse happens when its unique biotic or characteristic biota or
abiotic features are lost from all previous occurrences. Ecosystem
collapse could be reversible and is thus not completely equivalent to
species extinction. Ecosystem collapse can lead to catastrophic declines
of
carrying
capacity and mass extinction (known as ecological collapse),
and can also pose existential risk to human populations. Despite the
strong empirical evidence, anticipating collapse is a complex problem. The
collapse can happen when the ecosystem's distribution decreases below a
minimal sustainable size, or when key biotic processes and features
disappear due to environmental degradation or disruption of biotic
interactions. These different pathways to collapse can be used as criteria
for estimating the risk of ecosystem collapse. Although states of
ecosystem collapse are often defined quantitatively, few studies
adequately describe transitions from pristine or original state towards
collapse.
We
are committing suicide by proxy. Biodiversity conference opens with a
warning.
Disturbance in
ecology is a disturbance is a temporary
change in
environmental conditions that causes a pronounced
change in an
ecosystem. Disturbances often act quickly and with great effect, to
alter the physical structure or arrangement of biotic and abiotic
elements. Disturbance can also occur over a long period of time and can
impact the biodiversity within an ecosystem. Major ecological disturbances
may include
fires,
flooding,
storms, insect outbreaks and
trampling.
Earthquakes,
various types of
volcanic
eruptions, tsunami, firestorms, impact events,
climate change,
and the devastating effects of human impact on the environment
(anthropogenic disturbances) such as clearcutting,
forest
clearing and the introduction of
invasive species can be
considered major disturbances. Not only invasive species can have a
profound effect on an ecosystem, but also naturally occurring species can
cause disturbance by their behavior. Disturbance forces can have profound
immediate effects on ecosystems and can, accordingly, greatly alter the
natural community. Because of these and the impacts on populations,
disturbance determines the future shifts in dominance, various species
successively becoming dominant as their life history characteristics, and
associated life-forms, are exhibited over time.
Global Catastrophic Risk is a hypothetical future event that has the
potential to damage human well-being on a global scale. Some events could
cripple or destroy modern
civilization. Any event that could cause human extinction or
permanently and drastically curtail humanity's potential is known as an
existential risk.
Ecological Footprint
is a measure of human impact on Earth's ecosystems. It's typically
measured in area of wilderness or amount of natural capital consumed each
year. A common way of estimating footprint is, the area of wilderness of
both land and sea needed to supply resources to a human population; This
includes the area of wilderness needed to assimilate human waste.
Nature Deficit Disorder
is when human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors
resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.
Learning Outside the Classroom.
Natural Capital is the world's stock of natural resources,
which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms.
Natural capital assets provide people with a wide range of free goods and
services, often called ecosystem services, which underpin our economy and
society and some of which even make human life possible.
Carrying Capacity
is the maximum
population size of
the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food,
habitat, water, and other necessities available in the environment.
Overshoot in population occurs when a
population
temporarily exceeds the long term carrying capacity of its environment.
The consequence of overshoot is called a
collapse, a crash or a
die-off in
which there is a decline in population density. The entire sequence or
trajectory undergone by the population and its environment is often termed
'overshoot-and-collapse'.
Quorum Sensing is a system of stimuli and response
correlated to population density.
Anthropocene is a proposed
epoch that begins when human
activities started to have a significant global impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems.
Keystone Species is a species that has a disproportionately
large effect on its environment relative to its abundance.
Environmental Policy -
Pollution
Ecological Debt refers to the accumulated debt of wealthier countries
for having plundered poorer countries by the exploitation of their
resources, the degradation of their natural habitat, the beggaring of
local people and/or the free occupation of environmental space for waste
discharge, from a defined date in the past until present. Within the
ecological debt definition, two types of aspects are understood: the
ecological damage caused over time by a country in one or other countries
or to ecosystems beyond national jurisdiction through its production and
consumption patterns; and the exploitation or use of ecosystems over time
by a country at the expense of the equitable rights to these ecosystems by
other countries
Geo-Energy -
Green Products
Gap Minder Trends and Stats
-
Resource Efficiency Experts
-
Footprint Network
Environmental Migrant are
people who are
forced to leave their home region due to sudden or
long-term changes to their local environment which compromise their well
being or secure livelihood, such changes are held to include increased
droughts, desertification, sea level rise, and disruption of seasonal
weather patterns such as monsoons.
Environmental Destruction - Vulnerabilities of our Environment
Anthropocene is
human impact on the Earth's
geology and
ecosystems.
Extinctions.
Habitat Destruction is the process in which
Natural Habitat
is rendered unable to support the species present. In this
process, the organisms that previously used the site are
displaced or
destroyed, reducing biodiversity.
Environmental Crime is an illegal act which directly harms the
environment.
Crime Against Humanity is a
deliberate act, typically as part of a
systematic campaign, that
causes human suffering
or death on a large scale. Crimes against humanity are certain acts that
are
purposefully committed
as part of a widespread or systematic policy that is directed against
civilians.
Photos of Environmental Destruction -
Edward Burtynsky Anthropocene Project shows photos of
mining,
urbanization, industrialization and agriculture; the proliferation of
dams and diverting of waterways;
CO2 and acidification of oceans due to
climate change; the pervasive presence around the
globe of
plastics, concrete, and
other technofossils; unprecedented rates of
deforestation and extinction: these human incursions, they argue, are
so massive in scope that they have already entered, and will endure in,
geological time.
The Anthropocene
-
Quaternary Stratigraphy -
Nairobi's Waste Management Disaster.
Disturbance in ecology is a temporary change in environmental
conditions that causes a pronounced change in an
ecosystem. Disturbances
often act quickly and with great effect, to alter the physical structure
or arrangement of biotic and abiotic elements. Disturbance can also occur
over a long period of time and can impact the biodiversity within an
ecosystem. Major ecological disturbances may include
fires, flooding,
windstorms,
insect outbreaks and trampling.
Earthquakes,
various types of volcanic eruptions, tsunami, firestorms, impact events,
climate change, and the devastating effects of human impact on the
environment (anthropogenic disturbances) such as clearcutting,
forest clearing and the introduction of invasive
species can be considered major disturbances. Disturbance forces can have
profound immediate effects on ecosystems and can, accordingly, greatly
alter the natural community. Because of these and the impacts on
populations, disturbance determines the future shifts in dominance,
various species successively becoming dominant as their life history
characteristics, and associated life-forms, are exhibited over time.
Naturalist -
Schools.
Monitoring - Observing - Eyes in the Sky
Environmental Monitoring describes the
processes and activities that
need to take place to monitor the
quality of the
environment. Environmental
monitoring is used in the preparation of
environmental impact
assessments, as well as in many circumstances in
which human activities carry a
risk of
harmful effects
on the
natural environment.
Monitoring
is the act of
observing something and
keeping a
record of any changes. To
keep an eye on something important and keep track of any
changes.
Custodian is
someone
responsible for
maintaining buildings or grounds or animals.
Oversight -
Drones -
Robotics -
GPS -
Remote Control -
Conservationist
Steward is someone who
manages property or
other affairs for someone else.
Stewardship is a theological belief that humans are responsible for
taking care of the world.
Stewardship is being
responsible
for the world by
maintaining it and
taking care of it.
Green Schools
(environmental education) -
Green New Deal.
Risk Management
-
Land Mines -
Dirty Bombs -
Home Monitors -
Real-Time Computing -
Water -
Trees -
Fires -
Telemetry
-
Sensors
Participatory Monitoring is the regular collection of measurements or
other kinds of data monitoring, usually of natural resources and
biodiversity, undertaken by
local people who live in the area being
monitored, who rely on local natural
resources, and consequently have great local knowledge of those resources.
The people involved usually live in communities with considerable
social
cohesion where they regularly
work together on shared projects. PM is also known as
collaborative monitoring,
community-based monitoring, locally based
monitoring or volunteer monitoring.
Conservation Volunteer -
Volunteer
Opportunities -
Volunteer Conservationist -
Natural Resources Conservation Service -
Wild Earth Guardians -
Conservation Volunteering Programs -
Restoration
Intelligent Environments are spaces with
embedded systems and
information and communication technologies creating interactive spaces
that bring computation into the physical world and enhance occupants
experiences. "Intelligent environments are spaces in which computation is
seamlessly used to enhance ordinary activity. One of the driving forces
behind the emerging interest in highly interactive environments is to make
computers not only genuine user-friendly but also essentially invisible to
the user.
Social Media can help protect biodiversity. Nature photographers
posting to
social media are
helping improve biodiversity conservation mapping in South Asia, and the
method could go global. We found 44,000 photos of almost 1,000 animal
species, including many birds and insects, 288 of which are considered
threatened in Bangladesh.
Ranger numbers and protected area workforce must increase fivefold to
effectively safeguard 30% of the planet's wild lands by 2030. Ahead of the
global meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Montréal, Canada, which
decides new targets for nature, a new study outlines an urgent need for
larger numbers and better-supported protected area staff to ensure the
health of life on Earth. Scientists argue that there are not enough
rangers and other staff to manage even the current protected areas around
the world. The authors urge governments, donors, private landowners and
NGOs to increase the numbers of rangers and other staff five-fold in order
to meet global biodiversity conservation goals that have economic,
cultural and ecosystem benefits.
NEON
monitors ecosystems across the United States.
Global Warming -
Energy
Monitoring -
Pollution Monitoring -
Corruption Monitoring -
Supply Chain Traceability
Managing millions of abandoned oil and gas wells. Over 4.5 million
Americans live close to
unplugged gas or oil wells.
Environmental risks and opportunities of orphaned oil and gas wells.
Prioritize remediation strategies for orphaned oil and gas wells. These
inactive wells represent environmental risks since they have the potential
to contaminate water supplies, degrade ecosystems, and emit methane and
other air pollutants that are harmful to human health.
Machine Learning to aid Environmental Monitoring -
Artificial Intelligent Machine Learning
Planet Labs, Inc
is an American private
Earth imaging company that has the
largest fleet of
Earth-imaging satellites that takes daily images of the Earth to
monitor changes and
pinpoint trends. Continuously scans Earth capturing around
1.4 million images per day and feeding it
back to 30 ground stations. This provides a complete image of Earth once
per day at 3–5 m optical resolution through a technique called a line
scan, which allows for continuous, high resolution imagery due to the fact
that this type of camera is not restricted to specific vertical
resolution. The company set up across the world. By September 2018 the
company had launched nearly 300 satellites, 150 of which are active. They
launch new satellites into orbit every three or four months.
The mission to create a searchable database of Earth's surface: Will
Marshall (video and text) -
Planet Labs (wiki)
- Transform daily
satellite imagery
into intelligent analytic feeds to index objects and change.
Scientists are using declassified military intelligence photographs to
analyze historical ecological change. Researchers are using Cold War
spy satellite images to explore changes in the environment, including
deforestation in Romania, marmot decline in Kazakhstan and ecological
damage from bombs in Vietnam.
Combining satellite methods provides drought detection from space.
Observing sites like the
Amazon basin from space has
underscored the capability of satellites to better
detect signs of drought, according to a
new study. The researchers combined
Global Positioning System
and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment or GRACE methods to
improve monitoring of hydrological droughts.
Environmental Analysis - Research and Monitoring - R&M
- Environmental analysis is a strategic tool. It is a process to identify
all the external and internal elements, which can affect
performance. The analysis entails assessing the level of
threat or opportunity the factors might present.
Scanning: Identifying early
signals of
environmental changes and trends
. Monitoring:
Detecting meaning through ongoing
observations of environmental changes
and trends.
Sound
Monitoring.
Forecasting: Developing
projections of anticipated outcomes based on monitored changes and trends.
Assessing: Determining the timing and
importance of environmental changes and trends for strategies and their
management.
We have
Radar,
Motion Sensors,
High Resolution Cameras and
Thermal Imaging Systems to see at night. Se we can monitor almost
everything, even
Poachers.
Forward-Looking Infrared thermographic camera senses
infrared radiation. The sensors
installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other
thermal imaging cameras, use detection of infrared radiation, typically
emitted from a heat source (
thermal
radiation), to create an image assembled for video output. They can be
used to help pilots and drivers steer their vehicles at night and in fog,
or to
detect warm objects
against a cooler background. The wavelength of infrared that thermal
imaging cameras detect is 3 to 12 μm and differs significantly from that
of night vision, which operates in the visible light and near-infrared
ranges (0.4 to 1.0 μm). Cameras are typically used on military and
civilian aircraft.
Flir Night Vision Systems
-
Surveillance.
Gas
Detector is a device that detects the presence of gases in an area,
often as part of a safety system. This type of equipment is used to detect
a gas leak or other emissions and can interface with a control system so a
process can be automatically shut down. A gas detector can sound an alarm
to operators in the area where the leak is occurring, giving them the
opportunity to leave. This type of device is important because there are
many gases that can be harmful to organic life, such as humans or animals.
Gas detectors can be used to detect combustible, flammable and toxic
gases, and oxygen depletion. This type of device is used widely in
industry and can be found in locations, such as on oil rigs, to monitor
manufacture processes and emerging technologies such as photovoltaic. They
may be used in firefighting. Gas leak detection is the process of
identifying potentially hazardous gas leaks by
sensors. Additionally a
visual identification can be done using a thermal camera These sensors
usually employ an audible alarm to alert people when a dangerous gas has
been detected. Exposure to toxic gases can also occur in operations such
as painting, fumigation, fuel filling, construction, excavation of
contaminated soils, landfill operations, entering confined spaces, etc.
Common
sensors include combustible gas sensors, photoionization detectors,
infrared point sensors, ultrasonic sensors, electrochemical gas sensors,
and semiconductor sensors. More recently, infrared imaging sensors have
come into use. All of these sensors are used for a wide range of
applications and can be found in industrial plants, refineries,
pharmaceutical manufacturing, fumigation facilities, paper pulp mills,
aircraft and shipbuilding facilities, hazmat operations, waste-water
treatment facilities, vehicles,
indoor air quality testing and homes.
Ultra-Fast Bomb Detection method to detect materials that could be used to
build explosives. The new detection method is able to analyze a wider
range of materials than current thermal based detection systems used in
today's airports, while reducing false positive reports.
Data science tool greatly speeds up molecular analysis of our environment.
A research team has developed a computational workflow for analyzing large
data sets in the field of metabolomics, the study of small molecules found
within cells, biofluids, tissues, and entire ecosystems.
Bio-Marker is a measurable indicator of some biological state or
condition. Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated to examine normal
biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to
a therapeutic intervention. Biomarkers are used in many scientific fields.
Bio-Indicator is any species or a group of species
whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of
the environment. Bioindicators can tell us about the cumulative effects of
different pollutants in the ecosystem and about how long a problem may
have been present, which physical and chemical testing cannot. A
biological monitor or biomonitor is an organism that provides quantitative
information on the quality of the environment around it. Therefore, a good
biomonitor will indicate the presence of the pollutant and also attempt to
provide additional information about the amount and intensity of the
exposure. A biological indicator is also the name given to a process for
assessing the sterility of an environment through the use of resistant
microorganism strains (eg. Bacillus or Geobacillus). Biological indicators
can be described as the introduction of a highly resistant microorganisms
to a given environment before sterilization, tests are conducted to
measure the effectiveness of the sterilization processes. As biological
indicators use highly resistant microorganisms, you can be assured that
any sterilization process that renders them inactive will have also killed
off more common, weaker pathogens.
Bio-signature is any substance – such as an element, isotope, or
molecule – or phenomenon that provides
scientific evidence of past or
present life. Measurable attributes of life include its complex physical
and chemical structures and also its utilization of free energy and the
production of biomass and wastes. Due to its unique characteristics, a biosignature can be interpreted as having been produced by living
organisms; however, it is important that they not be considered definitive
because there is no way of knowing in advance which ones are universal to
life and which ones are unique to the peculiar circumstances of life on
Earth. Nonetheless, life forms are known to shed unique chemicals,
including DNA, into the environment as evidence of their presence in a
particular location.
Other Planets.
Molecular Marker is a
molecule,
sampled from some source, that gives
information about its
source.
Indices or index is an
indicator, sign, or measure of something. A number or ratio (a value on a
scale of measurement) derived from a series of observed facts; can reveal
relative changes as a function of time. A numerical scale used to compare
variables with one another or with some reference number.
Self-Powered microbial fuel cell biosensor for monitoring organic
freshwater pollution. Low-cost biosensor for
assessing water quality at the input of
lakes and rivers. Biodegradable waste from plant and animal sources
released into freshwater
ecosystems is a
significant environmental concern. Nonetheless, current methods for
assessing water quality seem more or less impractical due to their
complexity and high costs. In a promising development, a team of
researchers has successfully constructed a self-sustaining and buoyant
biosensor using inexpensive carbon-based materials for monitoring water
quality at the inlets of freshwater lakes and rivers.
Water Pollution.
AI to track animal behavior. Scientists create GlowTrack to track
human and animal behavior with better resolution and more versatility.
Scientists have created a non-invasive movement tracking method called
GlowTrack
that uses fluorescent dye markers to train artificial intelligence to
capture movement, from a single mouse digit to the human hand. GlowTrack
has applications spanning biology, robotics, medicine, and beyond.
Animal brain inspired AI game changer for autonomous robots. First
neuromorphic vision and control of a flying drone. Animal brains use
less data and energy compared to current deep neural networks running on
GPUs (graphic chips).
Neuromorphic processors are therefore very suitable for small drones
because they don't need heavy and large hardware and batteries. The
results are extraordinary: during flight the drone's deep neural network
processes data up to 64 times faster and consumes three times less energy
than when running on a GPU. Further developments of this technology may
enable the leap for drones to become as small, agile, and smart as flying
insects or birds.
Fluorescent Tag is a molecule that is attached chemically to aid in
the detection of a biomolecule such as a protein, antibody, or amino acid.
Generally,
fluorescent tagging, or labeling, uses a reactive derivative of a
fluorescent molecule known as a fluorophore.
Ecological Indicator are used to communicate information about
ecosystems and the impact human activity has on ecosystems to groups such
as the public or government policy makers. Ecosystems are complex and
ecological indicators can help describe them in simpler terms that can be
understood and used by non-scientists to make management decisions. For
example, the number of different beetle taxa found in a field can be used
as an indicator of biodiversity.
Environmental Indicator are simple measures that tell us what is
happening in the environment. Since the environment is very complex,
indicators provide a more practical and economical way to track the state
of the environment than if we attempted to record every possible variable
in the environment. For example, concentrations of ozone depleting
substances (ODS) in the atmosphere, tracked over time, is a good indicator
with respect to the environmental issue of stratospheric ozone depletion.
How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places: Steve Boyes (video
and text)
Remote Sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or
phenomenon without making physical contact with the object and thus in
contrast to on-site observation. Remote sensing is used in numerous
fields, including geography, land surveying and most Earth Science
disciplines.
Telepresence.
Curiosity Mars
Rover Snaps 1.8 Billion-Pixel Panorama (youtube)
Argo is a global
array
of 3,800 free-drifting profiling floats that measures the temperature and
salinity of the upper 2000 m of the ocean. This allows, for the first
time, continuous monitoring of the temperature, salinity, and velocity of
the upper ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available
Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System assists in monitoring the
effectiveness of enforcement and compliance of wildlife law at a national
level.
Managing forests with smart technologies. Deforestation has remained a
significant issue globally, with
primary forests
contributing to 16 per cent of the total
tree cover
loss in the last two decades, driven by climate change and intensive
human activity. This threatens natural resources, biodiversity, and
people's quality of life. To protect forests, scientists have developed
Forest 4.0, an intelligent forest data processing model integrating
blockchain,
Internet of Things (IoT),
and
Artificial
Intelligence technologies. The system enables real-time monitoring of
forest conditions, sustainable resource accounting, and a more transparent
forest governance model.
Carnegie
Airborne Observatory 3-D spectral and laser imaging
technology.
New tool to enable exploration of human-environment interactions.
Universal device will allow
transdisciplinary
collaboration globally.
The "
dahliagram,"
enables researchers to analyze and visualize a wide array of quantitative
and
qualitative knowledge
from diverse disciplinary sources and epistemological backgrounds.
Graphene and Quantum Dots put in motion a CMOS-integrated camera that
can see the invisible capable of imaging visible and
infrared light at the same time.
Novel machine-learning method produces detailed population trend maps for
550 bird species. Scientists have developed a novel way to model
whether the populations of more than
500 bird species
are increasing or decreasing. The method solves a nagging statistical
problem by accounting for year-to-year changes in the behavior of people
collecting the data.
AI-guided system for robotic inspection of buildings, roads and bridges.
Our built environment is aging and failing faster than we can maintain it.
Recent building collapses and structural failures of roads and bridges are
indicators of a problem that's likely to get worse, according to experts,
because it's just not possible to inspect every crack, creak and crumble
to parse dangerous signs of failure from normal wear and tear. In hopes of
playing catch-up, researchers are trying to give robotic assistants the
tools to help inspectors with the job.
Drones Monitoring - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Drone or
Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle is an aircraft without a human pilot on board. UAVs are
a component of an unmanned aircraft system or UAS, which include a UAV, a
ground-based controller, and a system of communications between the two.
The flight of UAVs may operate with various degrees of autonomy: either
under remote control by a human operator or autonomously by onboard
computers referred to as an autopilot.
Using Drones to tackle Climate Change -
Conservation Drones -
Blade 720 Drone
Radio Controlled Drones -
Remote Control -
Drone Knowledge -
UAV
Tiny Jedi drone
(youtube)
Global Hawk is an unmanned surveillance aircraft or UAV. Provides a
broad overview and systematic surveillance using high-resolution synthetic
aperture radar (SAR) and long-range electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR)
sensors with long loiter times over target areas. It can survey as much as
40,000 square miles (100,000 km2) of terrain a day.
Diagnosis from the Sky: Catching insect infestations within forests
before it’s too late. Researchers are working to improve remote sensing
technology's ability to detect subtle changes in real-time across the
landscape, namely to diagnose insect infestations in forests before
irreparable damage is done. Invasive insects, fungi, or other pathogens
can sweep through entire regions with deadly effect, devastating forests
and causing ripple effects throughout the ecosystem. CCDC is the acronym
for
Continuous Landcover Classification and Change Detection.
Zip Line lifesaving
deliveries by drone. More than two billion people lack adequate access to
essential medical products, such as blood and vaccines, due to challenging
terrain and gaps in infrastructure. Zipline improves access to these
supplies by flying over impassable mountains and washed-out roads,
delivering directly to clinics. All on its own.
Photos of Africa, taken from a flying lawn chair: George Steinmetz 2017
(video and text) -
Powered Parachutes.
Robots
-
Robotics
GPS Trackers -
GPS Collars -
Wireless Trackers -
Supply Chain Traceability
Monitoring Birds by Drone -
Sky TruthCultural
Protection Using Satellites and Citizen Scientists -
Satellite Images
Human Flying Drone
is Powerful enough to Lift a Human (youtube)
Cooperative
Ecosystem Studies Units
Stratollite High-Altitude Balloon Systems or Variable Altitude Air
Ballast Balloon System is developed by
World View
Enterprises. The system consists of a conventional zero-pressure
balloon attached in tandem with an air ballast pumpkin super-pressure
balloon (SPB) and a ladder which connects the ZPB to the gondola which is
called the Stratocraft. This is an apparent modification of the Sky Anchor
system first seen in the late 1960's.
High-Altitude Balloon are usually uncrewed balloons typically filled
with helium or hydrogen and released into the stratosphere, generally
attaining between 18 and 37 km (11 and 23 mi; 59,000 and 121,000 ft) above
sea level. In 2013, a balloon named BS 13-08 reached a record altitude of
53.7 km (33.4 mi; 176,000 ft).
Environmental Audit
is a type of evaluation intended to identify environmental compliance and
management system implementation gaps, along with related corrective
actions. In this way they perform an analogous (similar) function to
financial audits. There are generally two different types of environmental
audits: compliance audits and management systems audits. Compliance audits
tend to be the primary type in the US or within US-based multinationals.
Virunga Official
Trailer 1 (2014) - Netflix Documentary HD (youtube)
Soundscape Ecology is the study of the
acoustic relationships
between living organisms, human and other, and their environment, whether
the organisms are marine or terrestrial.
Detection of
Deforestation (DETER) -
Damage
Commercial airliners monitoring CO2 emissions from cities worldwide.
Monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from cities is important in order to
support climate mitigation activities in response to the Paris Agreement.
An international research team examined carbon dioxide (CO2) data
collected over 34 global cities by Japan's commercial airliners. Their
study revealed a relationship between urban atmospheric CO2 signals and
emissions from cities for the first time. The relationship suggests that
global observations by commercial airlines could provide an opportunity
for urban CO2 emissions monitoring. Cities are responsible for more than
70% of the global total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ability to monitor
GHG emissions from cities is an important capability to develop in order
to support climate mitigation activities in response to the Paris
Agreement. The science community has examined the data collected from
different platforms, such as ground-based, aircraft and satellites, to
establish a science-based monitoring capability. A study by an
international team, published in Scientific Reports, examined the data
collected by commercial airliners and showed the potential of the aircraft
data to contribute to the global GHG emission monitoring. The CONTRAIL
(Comprehensive Observation Network for TRace gases by AIrLiners) program
is Japan's unique aircraft observation project.
Air Quality.
Ocean Monitoring - Underwater Drones
Unmanned Port Security Vessel autonomously surveys the seabed and is a sensor
platform for other optical, chemical and environmental sensors,
including real-time video.
Sailing Drones
provide High Resolution Ocean Data -
Oceans
Animals could help humans monitor oceans. Sharks, penguins, turtles
and other seagoing species could help humans monitor the oceans by
transmitting oceanographic information from electronic tags. We have
processed more than 1.5 million measurements from floating sensors to
identify poorly sampled areas, 18.6% of the global ocean surface.By
comparing this with gaps in current observations by drifting profiling
sensors (known as Argo floats) we identified poorly sampled areas where
data from animal sensors would help fill gaps.
Schmidt Ocean
Institute -
Ocean Protection -
Eyes on the Seas
Satellite data identifies companies fishing in high seas. Analysis
points to commercial activity beyond reach of national jurisdiction. The
team's analysis showed 1,120 corporations owned nearly 2,500 high seas
fishing vessels in 2018 -- or approximately two-thirds of the total
detected fishing effort in these waters.
Pingers' could save Porpoises from Fishing Nets. Underwater sound
devices called 'pingers' could be an effective, long-term way to prevent
porpoises getting caught in fishing nets with no negative behavioral
effects.
Gladius Submersible Underwater Drone is the most affordable, easy to
use underwater photography drone w 4k camera, 100m depth & 500m range.
RangerBot underwater Drone helps protect the Great Barrier Reef.
Building bionic jellyfish for ocean exploration. Researchers show how
biohybrid robots based on jellyfish could be used to gather climate
science data from deep in the Earth's oceans.
Underwater vehicle AI model could be used in other adaptive control
systems. Unmanned Underwater Vehicles are used around the world to
conduct difficult environmental, remote, oceanic, defense and rescue
missions in often unpredictable and harsh conditions. A new study has now
used a novel
bio-inspired computing artificial intelligence solution to improve the
potential of UUVs and other adaptive control systems to operate more
reliability in rough seas and other unpredictable conditions.
Bio-Inspired-Experience-Replay.
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel is a research
institute in Kiel, Germany that operates worldwide in all ocean basins,
specializing in climate dynamics, marine ecology and biogeochemistry, and
ocean floor dynamics and circulation.
New
Underwater Drone Flies AND Swims (youtube)
Inner Space
Science facilitates the use of
privately owned
submersibles by scientists and educators on a non-commercial basis.
MantaDroid is a Manta Ray Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Robot that
swims 0.7m per second and operates up to 10 hours underwater
surveillance turbulent seas.
PowerRay underwater robot combines fishfinder, mobile app, and VR
goggle which provides real-time visualization of finding and catching
fish.
SoFi Soft Robotic Fish.
Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection
measures in place. A new study has quantified the risk for whale-ship
collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that
are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales.
Researchers report that global shipping traffic overlaps with about 92% of
these whale species' ranges. Only about 7% of areas at highest risk for
whale-ship collisions have any measures in place to protect whales from
this threat. These measures include speed reductions, both mandatory and
voluntary, for ships crossing waters that overlap with whale migration or
feeding areas. Thousands of whales are injured or killed each year after
being struck by ships, particularly the large container vessels that ferry
80% of the world's traded goods across the oceans. Collisions are the
leading cause of death worldwide for large whale species. Yet global data
on ship strikes of whales are hard to come by -- impeding efforts to
protect vulnerable whale species. A new study led by the University of
Washington has for the first time quantified the risk for whale-ship
collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that
are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales.
New methods for whale tracking and rendezvous using autonomous robots.
Today, a research team has proposed a new reinforcement learning framework
with autonomous drones to find sperm whales and predict where they will
surface. This new study uses various sensing devices, such as Project CETI
aerial drones with very high frequency (VHF) signal sensing capability
that leverage signal phase along with the drone's motion to emulate an
'antenna array in air' for estimating directionality of received pings
from CETI's on-whale tags.
Engineers
combine light and sound to see underwater. An airborne method for
imaging underwater objects by combining light and sound to break through
the seemingly impassable barrier at the interface of air and water. A
hybrid optical-acoustic system or Photoacoustic Airborne Sonar System.
Kayaks with Underwater Environmental Sensors and Speakers. Researchers
have rigged kayaks with underwater environmental sensors and speakers to
create an environmental monitoring tool suitable for
citizen scientists. Instructions for the
hardware and open-source software for making the 'Sonic Kayak' are available.
Rotating microscope could provide a new window into secrets of microscopic
life. Insights from innovative device could provide a new window into
secrets of microscopic ocean life and their effects on crucial planetary
processes, such as
carbon fixation.
Ocean microbes could interact with pollution to influence climate.
Little is known about how gases and aerosols made by ocean microbes affect
weather and climate, or how pollution could influence this process. Today,
scientists report they've used an 'ocean-in-a-lab' to show that air
pollution can change the makeup of gases and aerosols that sea spray
releases into the atmosphere, potentially altering
weather patterns.
Drifter is an oceanographic device floating on the surface to
investigate
ocean currents and other
parameters like temperature or salinity. Modern drifters are typically
tracked by satellite,
often GPS. They are sometimes called Lagrangian drifters since the
location of the measurements they make moves with the flow. A major user
of drifters is the
Global Drifter Program, which was formerly known as the Surface Velocity Program.
Automated Data Collection Technology - Telemetry
Telemetry is an automated
communications process by which
measurements and other
data are collected at remote or inaccessible points
and transmitted to receiving equipment for monitoring. The word is derived
from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure. Systems that need
external instructions and data to operate require the counterpart of
telemetry, telecommand. Although the term commonly refers to
wireless data
transfer mechanisms (e.g., using radio, ultrasonic, or infrared systems),
it also encompasses data transferred over other media such as a telephone
or computer network, optical link or other wired communications like power
line carriers. Many modern telemetry systems take advantage of the low
cost and ubiquity of
GSM networks by using SMS to receive and transmit
telemetry data. A telemeter is a device used to remotely measure any
quantity. It consists of a sensor, a transmission path, and a display,
recording, or control device. Telemeters are the physical devices used in
telemetry. Electronic devices are widely used in telemetry and can be
wireless or hard-wired, analog or digital. Other technologies are also
possible, such as mechanical, hydraulic and optical. Telemetry may be
commutated to allow the transmission of multiple data streams in a fixed
frame.
Telemetry is the automatic
transmission and measurement of data from
remote sources by wire or radio
or other means.
Tele-Robotics
-
Tele-Medicine -
Remote Services -
Supply Chain Traceability
Telematics is a method of
monitoring cars, trucks, equipment and other assets by
using GPS technology and on-board diagnostics to plot the asset's
movements on a computerized map.
Transponder is a device that, upon receiving a
signal, emits a different signal
in response. The term is a portmanteau of transmitter and responder. It is
variously abbreviated as XPDR, XPNDR, TPDR or TP. In air navigation or
radio frequency identification, a flight transponder is an automated
transceiver in an aircraft that emits a coded identifying signal in
response to an interrogating received signal. In a communications
satellite, a satellite transponder receives signals over a range of uplink
frequencies, usually from a satellite ground station. The transponder
amplifies them, and re-transmits them on a different set of downlink
frequencies to receivers on Earth, often without changing the content of
the received signal or signals.
Real-Time Data
is
information that is
delivered immediately after collection. There is no delay in the
timeliness of the information provided. Real-time data is often used for
navigation or tracking. Such data is usually processed using real-time
computing although it can also be stored for later or off-line data
analysis. Some uses of the term "real-time data" confuse it with the term
dynamic data. The presence of real-time data is actually
irrelevant to whether it is dynamic or static.
Data
Logger is an electronic device that
records data over time or
in relation to location either with a built in instrument or
sensor or
via external instruments and sensors. Increasingly, but not entirely, they
are based on a digital processor (or computer). They generally are small,
battery powered, portable, and equipped with a microprocessor, internal
memory for data storage, and sensors. Some data loggers interface with a
personal computer, and use software to activate the data logger and view
and analyze the collected data, while others have a local interface device
(keypad, LCD) and can be used as a stand-alone device.
Forensic Science.
Want more efficient simulators? Store time in a quantum superposition.
Approach could cut resources required for simulations of processes such as
traffic flow and neuron firing.
Real-Time Web is
a
network web using technologies and
practices that enable users to receive
information as soon as
it is published by its authors, rather than requiring that they or their
software check a source periodically for updates.
Live Streaming
refers to online streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in
real time to the viewer. It is often simply referred to as streaming.
Real-Time Locating System are used to automatically identify and track
the location of objects or people in real time, usually within a building
or other contained area. Wireless RTLS tags are attached to objects or
worn by people, and in most RTLS, fixed reference points receive wireless
signals from tags to determine their location. Examples of real-time
locating systems include tracking automobiles through an assembly line,
locating pallets of merchandise in a warehouse, or finding medical
equipment in a hospital. The physical layer of RTLS technology is usually
some form of radio frequency (RF) communication, but some systems use
optical (usually infrared) or acoustic (usually ultrasound) technology
instead of or in addition to RF. Tags and fixed reference points can be
transmitters, receivers, or both, resulting in numerous possible
technology combinations. RTLS are a form of local positioning system, and
do not usually refer to GPS or to mobile phone tracking. Location
information usually does not include speed, direction, or spatial
orientation.
Real Time
Kinematic positioning is a satellite navigation technique used to
enhance the precision of position data derived from satellite-based
positioning systems (global navigation satellite systems, GNSS) such as
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou. It uses measurements of the phase of
the signal's carrier wave in addition to the information content of the
signal, and relies on a single reference station or interpolated virtual
station to provide real-time corrections, providing up to centimetre-level
accuracy. With reference to GPS in particular, the system is commonly
referred to as Carrier-Phase Enhancement, or CPGPS. It has applications in
land survey, hydrographic survey, and in consumer unmanned aerial vehicle
navigation.
Real-Time
Computing describes hardware and software systems subject to a
"real-time constraint", for example from event to system response.
Real-time programs must guarantee response within specified time
constraints, often referred to as "deadlines". The correctness of these
types of systems depends on their temporal aspects as well as their
functional aspects. Real-time responses are often understood to be in the
order of milliseconds, and sometimes microseconds. A system not specified
as operating in real time cannot usually guarantee a response within any
timeframe, although typical or expected response times may be given. A
real-time system has been described as one which "controls an environment
by receiving data, processing them, and returning the results sufficiently
quickly to affect the environment at that time". The term "real-time" is
also used in
simulation to
mean that the simulation's clock runs at the same speed as a real clock,
and in process control and enterprise systems to mean "without significant
delay". Real-time software may use one or more of the following:
synchronous programming languages, real-time operating systems, and
real-time networks, each of which provide essential frameworks on which to
build a real-time software application. Systems used for many mission
critical applications must be real-time, such as for control of
fly-by-wire aircraft, or anti-lock brakes on a vehicle, which must produce
maximum deceleration but intermittently stop braking to prevent skidding.
Real-time processing fails if not completed within a specified deadline
relative to an event; deadlines must always be met, regardless of system
load.
Geographic Information Science is the scientific discipline that
studies data structures and computational techniques to capture,
represent, process, and analyze geographic information. It can be
contrasted with geographic information systems, which are software tools.
Geography
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is both a combat support
agency, under the United States Department of Defense, and an intelligence
agency of the United States
Intelligence Community, with the primary
mission of collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence
(GEOINT) in support of national security. NGA was known as the National
Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) until 2003.
Geospatial Intelligence is intelligence about the human activity on
earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial
information that describes, assesses, and visually depicts physical
features and
geographically referenced activities on the Earth. GEOINT, as
defined in US Code, consists of imagery, imagery intelligence (IMINT) and
geospatial information.
Geospatial Analysis is an approach to applying statistical analysis
and other analytic techniques to
data which has a geographical or spatial
aspect. Such analysis would typically employ software capable of rendering
maps processing spatial data, and applying analytical methods to
terrestrial or
geographic datasets, including the use of geographic
information systems and geomatics.
Geographic Information System is a system designed to capture, store,
manipulate,
analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data.
The acronym GIS is sometimes used for
geographic information science (GIScience)
to refer to the academic discipline that studies geographic information
systems and is a large domain within the broader academic discipline of
geoinformatics. What goes beyond a GIS is a spatial data infrastructure, a
concept that has no such restrictive boundaries.
Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and
uses information science
infrastructure to address the problems of
geography, cartography, geosciences locations and related branches of
science and
engineering.
Science to quickly and accurately identify fish species in streams
using new environmental DNA (eDNA).
Environmental
DNA is collected from a variety of environmental samples such as soil,
seawater, or even air rather than directly sampled from an individual
organism. As various organisms interact with the environment, DNA is
expelled and accumulates in their surroundings. Example sources of eDNA
include, but are not limited to, feces, mucus, gametes, shed skin,
carcasses and hair. Such samples can be analyzed by high-throughput
DNA Sequencing methods, known as metagenomics, for rapid measurement and
monitoring of biodiversity. In order to better differentiate between
organisms within a sample, DNA metabarcoding is used in which the sample
is analyzed and uses previously studied
DNA libraries to determine what organisms are present (e.g. BLAST. The
analysis of eDNA has great potential, not only for monitoring common
species, but to genetically detect and identify other extant species that
could influence conservation efforts. This method allows for
Biomonitoring
without requiring collection of the living organism, creating the ability
to study organisms that are invasive, elusive, or endangered without
introducing anthropogenic stress on the
organism. Access to this genetic
information makes a critical contribution to the understanding of
population size, species distribution, and population dynamics for species
not well documented. The integrity of eDNA samples is dependent upon its
preservation within the environment. Soil, permafrost, freshwater and
seawater are well-studied macro environments from which eDNA samples have
been extracted, each of which include many more conditioned
subenvironments. Because of its versatility, eDNA is applied in many
subenvironments such as freshwater sampling, seawater sampling,
terrestrial soil sampling (tundra permafrost), aquatic soil sampling
(river, lake, pond, and ocean sediment), or other environments where
normal sampling procedures can become problematic.
Metagenomics is
the study of genetic material recovered directly from environmental
samples. The broad field may also be referred to as environmental
genomics, ecogenomics or community genomics. While traditional
microbiology and microbial genome sequencing and genomics rely upon
cultivated clonal cultures, early environmental gene sequencing cloned
specific genes (often the 16S rRNA gene) to produce a profile of diversity
in a natural sample. Such work revealed that the vast majority of
microbial biodiversity had been missed by cultivation-based methods.
Recent studies use either "shotgun" or PCR directed sequencing to get
largely unbiased samples of all genes from all the members of the sampled
communities. Because of its ability to reveal the previously hidden
diversity of microscopic life, metagenomics offers a powerful lens for
viewing the microbial world that has the potential to revolutionize
understanding of the entire living world. As the price of
DNA sequencing
continues to fall, metagenomics now allows microbial ecology to be
investigated at a much greater scale and detail than before.
Optical Mapping
is a technique for constructing ordered, genome-wide, high-resolution
restriction maps from single, stained molecules of DNA, called "optical
maps". By mapping the location of restriction enzyme sites along the
unknown DNA of an organism, the spectrum of resulting DNA fragments
collectively serves as a unique "fingerprint" or "barcode" for that
sequence.
Ultra-Thin Camera Creates Images Without Lenses. New design
substitutes an array of light receivers for a lens, making cameras thin,
light, cheap, and flexible.
Spatial Intelligence
Phased-Array Optics is the technology of controlling the phase of
light waves transmitting or reflecting from a two-dimensional surface by
means of adjustable surface elements. It is the optical analogue of phased
array radar. By dynamically controlling the optical properties of a
surface on a microscopic scale, it is possible to steer the direction of
light beams, or the view direction of sensors, without any moving parts.
Hardware associated with beam steering applications is commonly called an
optical phased array (OPA). Phased array beam steering is used for optical
switching and multiplexing in optoelectronic devices, and for aiming laser
beams on a macroscopic scale. Complicated patterns of phase variation can
be used to produce diffractive optical elements, such as dynamic virtual
lenses, for beam focusing or splitting in addition to aiming. Dynamic
phase variation can also produce real-time holograms. Devices permitting
detailed addressable phase control over two dimensions are a type of
spatial light modulator (SLM). In nanotechnology, phased array optics
refers to arrays of lasers or SLMs with addressable phase and amplitude
elements smaller than a wavelength of light. While still theoretical, such
high resolution arrays would permit extremely realistic three-dimensional
image display by dynamic holography with no unwanted orders of
diffraction. Applications for weapons, space communications, and
invisibility by optical camouflage have also been suggested.
Silicon Photonics is the study and application of photonic systems
which use silicon as an optical medium. The silicon is usually patterned
with sub-micrometre precision, into microphotonic components. These
operate in the infrared, most commonly at the 1.55 micrometre wavelength
used by most fiber optic telecommunication systems. The silicon typically
lies on top of a layer of silica in what (by analogy with a similar
construction in microelectronics) is known as silicon on insulator (SOI).
Magnetic Survey in archaeology is one of a number of methods used in
archaeological geophysics that makes it
possible to
see formations underground by measuring fluctuations in
earth's magnetic field. Magnetic surveys record spatial variation in the
Earth's magnetic field. In
archaeology, magnetic surveys are used to detect and map
archaeological artefacts and features.
Magnetic surveys are used in both terrestrial and marine archaeology.
Magnetometers used in geophysical survey may use a single sensor to
measure the total magnetic field strength, or may use two (sometimes more)
spatially separated sensors to measure the gradient of the magnetic field
(the difference between the sensors).
Metal Detector is an electronic instrument which
detects the presence
of metal nearby. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal inclusions
hidden within objects, or
metal objects buried underground. They often
consist of a handheld unit with a sensor probe which can be swept over the
ground or other objects.
Weather -
Atmosphere
-
Air Monitors
-
Air
Photogrammetry is the science of
making measurements from photographs,
especially for recovering the exact positions of surface points.
Photogrammetry is as old as modern photography, dating to the mid-19th
century and in the simplest example, the distance between two points that
lie on a plane parallel to the photographic image plane, can be determined
by measuring their distance on the image, if the scale (s) of the image is
known. Photogrammetric analysis may be applied to one photograph, or may
use
high-speed photography and remote
sensing to detect, measure and record complex 2-D and 3-D motion fields by
feeding measurements and imagery analysis into computational models in an
attempt to successively estimate, with increasing accuracy, the actual,
3-D relative motions. From
its beginning with the stereoplotters used to plot contour lines on
topographic maps, it now has a very wide range of uses.See also
sonar,
radar,
lidar.
Mining - Resource Extraction
Mining is extraction of
valuable minerals or other
geological materials from the earth, which are
Non-renewable resources that do not renew and are there for
unsustainable. But if theses extractions
were to be used effectively and efficiently our resources would benefit
mankind, instead of
poisoning the environment and killing people and other
life forms.
Mineral Policy Institute specializes in preventing
environmentally and socially destructive mining, minerals and energy
projects in Australia, Asia and the Pacific.
Progress Trap -
Social Trap -
Purpose -
Destructive Mining (Consent to Operate) -
Habitats.
Overconsumption is a situation where resource use has
outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem. A prolonged pattern of
overconsumption leads to environmental degradation and the eventual loss
of resource bases.
Consumerism.
Raping the land and leaving toxic poisonous waste for tax payers to
clean up. This is what
republican criminals and their corporate sponsors like to do to your
children and grand children.
161,000 abandoned
mining sites in America. 94,000 abandoned Oil and Gas sites. It
would cost 50 Billion dollars for tax payers to clean up. We are not
against mining resources, we are against
corporate greed that murders people and
destroys
American soil.
Public Lands.
Big coal companies avoid cleaning up their messes by claiming
bankruptcy and doing asset transfers to move old mines to shaky new
owners, putting at risk federally mandated land reclamation. Alpha
offloaded mines that were later acquired by other companies with leaders
who have been accused of wrongdoing or had a history of environmental
violations. Coal companies that filed for bankruptcy have
offloaded about $17 billion in miner pension
and retiree health care costs that is
now mostly
the responsibility of the federal government, according to a
United Mine Workers of America
estimate.
Many of these companies are now posting
record profits thanks to a surging coal market. Alpha shed in its
bankruptcy about $2.2 billion in pension obligations and health care
costs, according to a United Mine Workers of America estimate, plus
another $494 million in black lung benefits, according to the
U.S. Government Accountability Office. Of the 232 permits Alpha
transferred to Lexington, only 41 have been fully cleaned up, state
records show.
The federal government picks up most
of the bill. The U.S. government also covers most of the unpaid
pension liabilities and other health care benefits promised to miners. A
bill introduced by West Virginia Democratic Sen.
Joe Manchin and passed in 2019 lifted the amount of taxpayer funds
that can go toward those payments to $750 million a year.
For people who live near those idled mines,
the flooding, the polluted streams and the damaged homes can be
overwhelming. destroyed millions of acres of productive land. Mining left
behind more than
50,000 underground mine openings,
and it polluted tens of thousands of miles of rivers and streams. But
there were no federal rules requiring coal companies to mitigate the
damage.
Federal law requires returning the land to its original shape,
planting native vegetation and preventing future flooding or toxic runoff.
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 is the primary
federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the
United States. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal
mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands. SMCRA also created
the Office of Surface Mining, an agency within the Department of the
Interior, to promulgate regulations, to fund state regulatory and
reclamation efforts, and to ensure consistency among state regulatory
programs. SMCRA grew out of a concern about the environmental effects of
strip mining. Coal had been mined in the United States since the 1740s,
but surface mining did not become widespread until the 1930s. At the end
of that decade, states began to enact the first laws regulating the coal
mining industry: West Virginia in 1939, Indiana in 1941, Illinois in 1943,
and Pennsylvania in 1945. Despite those laws, the great demand for coal
during World War II led to coal being mined with little regard for
environmental consequences. After the war, states continued to enact and
expand regulatory programs, some of which required mining permits or the
posting of bonds to ensure that the land could be reclaimed after mining
was complete. But these state laws were largely unsuccessful at stemming
the environmental impacts of surface mining. One problem was that the law
varied from state to state, enabling mining operations to relocate to
states where regulations were less strict. Meanwhile, surface mining
became increasingly common: in 1963 just 33 percent of American coal came
from surface mines; by 1973 that figure reached 60 percent. In 1974 and
1975 Congress sent mining regulation bills to President Gerald Ford, but
he vetoed them out of concern that they would harm the coal industry,
increase inflation, and restrict the energy supply. As Jimmy Carter
campaigned in Appalachia in 1976, he promised to sign those bills.
Congress sent him a bill that was even more stringent than those vetoed by
Ford, and President Carter signed it into law on August 3, 1977. Alpha's
share price has gone up more than 700% since it exited bankruptcy in 2016.
The executives who guided the company through bankruptcy, a corporate
split, a re-merger, and a name change to Alpha Metallurgical Resources
have been handsomely rewarded.
Kevin Crutchfield,
CEO from 2009 to 2019,
earned at least $72 million
in those years. President
Andy Eidson, set
to take over as CEO, has made at least
$16 million
since he joined Alpha a decade ago.
If something in the environment is beneficial to humans, then we
should not waste it or abuse it because the loses would exceed the gains,
so the benefit will only be temporary, and this valuable resource will do
more harm than good.
Non-Renewable Resource is a resource that
does
not renew itself at a sufficient rate for
sustainable economic extraction in
meaningful human time-frames. An example is carbon-based,
organically-derived fuel. The original organic material, with the aid of
heat and pressure, becomes a fuel such as oil or gas. Earth minerals and
metal ores, fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas) and groundwater in
certain aquifers are all considered non-renewable resources, though
individual elements are almost always conserved.
Conservation -
Preservation -
Rare Earth Metals -
Geology -
Phytomining
Resource Management is the
efficient and effective development of an organization's resources
when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources,
inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology
(IT) and natural resources.
Subterranean is
below ground or underground or beneath the surface of the earth.
Source
International works with communities facing environmental pollution
issues and health problems. who suffer Human Rights violations, especially
linked to extractive industries. Any processes that involve the extraction
of raw materials from the earth to be used by consumers. The extractive
industry consists of any operations that remove metals, mineral and
aggregates from the earth. Examples of extractive processes include oil
and gas extraction, mining, dredging and quarrying.
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is a global standard to
promote the open and accountable management of extractive resources. It
seeks to address the key governance issues in the oil, gas and mining
sectors.
EITI promots
public awareness about how countries manage their oil, gas and mineral resources.
Destructive Mining
-
Earthworks
Vandalism is an action involving
deliberate destruction of
or
damage to public or private
property.
Environmental Crime is an illegal act which directly harms
the environment.
Lawsuit (suing) -
Toxins -
Pollution
Tailings
are the materials left over after the process of separating the
valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore.
Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other
material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during
mining without being processed.
Groundwater Contamination
Toxics Release Inventory is a publicly available database
containing information on toxic chemical releases and other waste
management activities in the United States.
Toxics Release Inventory Tri-Program (epa)
Waste Materials from Mines -
Waste Types
Toxic Mine Waste Threatens Worlds Waters -
Toxins
The Shocking Danger of Mountaintop Removal — and why it Must End: Michael
Hendryx (video and text)
Mountaintop Removal Mining is a form of
Surface Mining at the summit or summit ridge of a mountain.
Conflict
Mineral are natural resources extracted in a conflict zone
and sold to perpetuate the fighting.
Conflict Free
does not mean free from other problems.
Congo Conflict Minerals (PDF)
Indigenous People are Left Poor as Tech World takes Lithium from under
their Feet -
Atacama People (wiki) -
Atacama Desert (wiki)
Mineral Resource Classification is the classification of mineral
resources based on an increasing level of geological knowledge and
confidence. Mineral deposits can be classified as: Mineral resources that
are potentially valuable, and for which reasonable prospects exist for
eventual economic extraction. Mineral reserves or Ore reserves that are
valuable and legally and economically and technically feasible to extract.
Resource Shortages -
Actual Cost.
Mineral Processing is the process of separating commercially valuable
minerals from their
ores. Before
the advent of heavy machinery the raw ore was broken up using hammers
wielded by hand, a process called "
spalling".
Before long, mechanical means were found to achieve this. For instance,
stamp mills were used in Samarkand as early as 973. They were also in use
in medieval Persia. By the 11th century, stamp mills were in widespread
use throughout the medieval Islamic world, from Islamic Spain and North
Africa in the west to Central Asia in the east. A later example was the
Cornish stamps, consisting of a series of iron hammers mounted in a
vertical frame, raised by cams on the shaft of a waterwheel and falling
onto the ore under gravity. The simplest method of separating ore from
gangue consists of picking out the individual crystals of each. This is a
very tedious process, particularly when the individual particles are
small. Another comparatively simple method relies on the various minerals
having different densities, causing them to collect in different places:
metallic minerals (being heavier) will drop out of suspension more quickly
than lighter ones, which will be carried further by a stream of water. The
process of panning and sifting for gold uses both of these methods.
Various devices known as 'buddles' were used to take advantage of this
property. Later, more advanced machines were used such as the Frue vanner,
invented in 1874. Other equipment used historically includes the hutch, a
trough used with some ore-dressing machines and the keeve or kieve, a
large tub used for differential settlement.
Mineral processing begins with beneficiation, consisting of
initially breaking down the ore to required sizes depending on the
concentration process to be followed, by crushing, grinding, sieving etc.
Thereafter, the ore is physically separated from any unwanted impurity,
depending on the form of occurrence and or further process involved.
Separation processes take advantage of physical properties of the
materials. These physical properties can include density, particle size
and shape, electrical and magnetic properties, and surface properties.
Major physical and chemical methods include magnetic separation, froth
flotation, leaching etc., whereby the impurities and unwanted materials
are removed from the ore and the base ore of the metal is concentrated,
meaning the percentage of metal in the ore is increased. This concentrate
is then either processed to remove moisture or else used as is for
extraction of the metal or made into shapes and forms that can undergo
further processing, with ease of handling. Ore bodies often contain more
than one valuable metal. Tailings of a previous process may be used as a
feed in another process to extract a secondary product from the original
ore. Additionally, a concentrate may contain more than one valuable metal.
That concentrate would then be processed to separate the valuable metals
into individual constituents. Mineral processing can involve four general
types of unit operation: comminution – particle size reduction; sizing –
separation of particle sizes by screening or classification; concentration
by taking advantage of physical and surface chemical properties; and
dewatering – solid/liquid separation. In all of these processes, the most
important considerations are the economics of the processes and this is
dictated by the grade and recovery of the final product. To do this, the
mineralogy of the ore needs to be considered as this dictates the amount
of liberation required and the processes that can occur. The smaller the
particles processes, the greater the theoretical grade and recovery of the
final product, but this however is difficult to do with fine particles as
they prevent certain concentration processes from occurring.
Metallurgy.
Brine
Mining is the extraction of useful materials (elements or compounds)
which are naturally dissolved in brine. The brine may be seawater, other
surface water, or groundwater. It differs from solution mining or in-situ
leaching in that those methods inject water or chemicals to dissolve
materials which are in a solid state; in brine mining, the materials are
already dissolved. Brines are important sources of salt, iodine, lithium,
magnesium, potassium, bromine, and other materials, and potentially
important sources of a number of others.
Huge supply of Rare-Earth Elements from Mining Waste. Researchers have
examined a method to extract
rare-earth
elements from mining waste that could provide the world with a
reliable supply of the valuable materials.
Investigating BHP's $5bn Mining Disaster In Brazil (youtube)
Damian Palin: Mining Minerals from
Seawater
(video) -
BioMine -
Biomine
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon
(PAH)
The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels
Hambach Surface Mine (wiki)
Mining Technology
Metals used in high-tech products face future supply risks.
Abandoned Mines
Bunker Hill Mine in North Idaho deposited 75 million tons of toxic sludge
in Lake Coeur d’Alene, and the lead and zinc are still flowing.
Children in the Silver Valley in the 1970s registered some of the highest
levels of lead in their bloodstreams recorded anywhere. Today, after 35
years and almost $900 million in cleanup costs, Bunker Hill’s tailings
heap still oozes 400 pounds of toxic metals a day into the South Fork of
the Coeur d’Alene River. The pollution is a ticking time bomb. Bunker Hill
closed in 1981 because it couldn’t comply with U.S. clean air and water
laws.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is responsible
for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of
work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) within the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
Progressive Massive Fibrosis is the disease arises firstly through the
deposition of silica or coal dust (or other dust) within the lung, and
then through the body's immunological reactions to the dust.
Coal miners say new limits on rock dust could save lives. Miners and
their advocates testify in favor of new silica regulations aimed at
preventing
black lung disease, an epidemic that is killing thousands of coal
miners, and regulators could have stopped it.
Coal worker's Pneumoconiosis is also known as
black lung disease or black lung, is caused by long exposure to
coal dust. Similar to both silicosis from inhaling silica dust and to the
long-term effects of
tobacco smoking.
Inhaled coal dust progressively builds up in the lungs and cannot be
removed by the body; this leads to inflammation, fibrosis, and in worse
cases, necrosis.
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation
of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in
the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type
of pneumoconiosis. Silicosis resulted in 46,000 deaths globally in 2013
down from 55,000 deaths in 1990.
Exploitation of Natural Resources is the use of natural resources for
economic growth, sometimes with a negative connotation of accompanying
environmental degradation.
Tunnel
is an underground passageway, dug through the surrounding soil/earth/rock
and enclosed except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A
pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed
tube construction techniques rather than traditional
tunnel boring methods.
Why Tunnels Don't
Collapse. Rock bolts are a type of reinforcement for stabilizing rock
excavations, usually made from steel bars or bolts.
Overburden is the material that lies above an area such as the rock,
soil, and ecosystem.
Rare Earth
Elements -
Precious Metals -
Geology
Edward Burtynsky Photographs of Mines
Convenience
should never be a reason to commit
murder or as a reason to
destroy resources.
"
Mountains Don't Grow Back, besides that, you have nothing
to show for the energy you used except for millions of acres of
poison ground and water that will last 10's of thousands of
years. This is a horrific crime and a total waste of resources,
land and people."
Vandalism is the
action involving
deliberate
destruction of or damage to public or private property.
Could you be Evil and not even know it, of
course, that is why improving education is a must, but just in
case, here's the prayer; "We're taking back
Gabriel,
Lucifer,
Satan and all the other
Fallen Angels, the people you refer to as your
so called friends, and we will let them know that you are truly
the enemy and that it would be in their best interest if they
would return to heaven to help us end your insanity instead of
fueling it, because everyone knows that this will ultimately end
badly for everyone, and everything."
Divest - Stop Supporting
Divest is to rid oneself of
something that one no longer wants or
requires, like stopping a
bad habit.
You're Fired!
Divestment is getting rid of stocks, bonds, or investment funds that
are unethically
unjustifiable and
measurably harmful.
Disinvestment is the withdrawal of capital
from a country or corporation.
Divesting could be Greewashing
-
Activism.
Energy Returned on Energy Invested is the ratio of the
amount of usable energy delivered from a particular energy resource to the
amount of energy used to obtain that energy resource. It is a distinct
measure from energy efficiency as it does not measure the primary energy
inputs to the system, only
usable energy.
Divesting
from companies related to
fossil fuel abuses.
We just don't want to
Pool Resources, we need to correctly measure the resources
the world has
so that we can then use them effectively and
fairly without
waste and abuse. Resources belong to
the people of the earth, and not to individuals, governments or
corporations. End
corporate welfare.
Investors should be More Ethical and Align their
Portfolios with their Personal Values. Urge financial institutions
to divest from companies implicated in everything from climate change and
gun violence to worker exploitation. This year, 85% of individual
investors surveyed indicated interest in ensuring that their money backs
companies with sustainable practices.
Demonetize to divest or deprive of payment. To stop using a
monetary standard.
Youtube Demonetization
is when content creators are denied paid advertisements in their video,
thus denying them revenue and reducing their income from the video-hosting
platform.
Censorship.
Boycott -
Carbon Bubble -
Stop Being An Enabler
Resource Depletion
is the consumption of a resource
faster than it can be replenished.
Natural resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and
non-renewable resources (see also mineral resource classification). Use of
either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is
considered to be resource depletion.
Damage.
Tradable Energy Quotas is a proposal for a national emissions and
energy trading scheme that includes personal carbon trading as a central
element. It is the subject of significant interest from the UK Government,
and is explicitly designed to address both climate change and peak oil.
Habitat
Destruction -
Go Fossil Free: Divestment Day February 13 and 14:
Divest from fossil fuels.
In the valuation of companies dependent on
fossil-fuel-based energy production, because the true costs of carbon
dioxide in intensifying global warming are not yet taken into account in a
company's stock market valuation. Currently the price of fossil fuels
companies' shares is calculated under the assumption that all fossil fuel
reserves will be consumed. An estimate made by Kepler Chevreux puts the
loss in value of the fossil fuel companies due to the impact of the
growing renewables industry at $ 28 trillion over the next two
decades-long. A more recent analysis made by Citi puts that figure at $100
trillion. Analysts in both the petroleum and financial industries are
concluding that the "age of oil" has already reached a new stage where the
excess supply that appeared in late 2014 may continue to prevail in the
future. A consensus appears to be emerging that an international agreement
will be reached to introduce measures to constrain the combustion of
hydrocarbons in an effort to limit global temperature rise to the nominal
2 °C that is consensually predicted to limit environmental harm to
tolerable levels.
Companies and investors can now get smarter when it comes to nature.
Amid growing pressure to report on nature-related risks and impacts, an
open-source footprinting tool offers a scientific and transparent
approach. This month, these sectors and others are coming together at the
United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16) in Colombia to
address the nature crisis, which is becoming widely understood as
comparable to and intersecting with climate change. As part of the
increasing shift to address the decline of nature and its implications for
humanity (e.g., loss of pollinators, natural flood control, carbon
storage, clean and available water) there have been recent efforts, such
as the
Task Force on
Nature-Related Financial Disclosures and the Science-Based Targets
Network, to support tracking and reporting of the private sector's
nature-related impacts and dependencies (in other words, how companies not
only impact nature, but depend on it). A tool co-developed by the
Stanford University-based Natural Capital Project (NatCap) and the
Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing assesses nature-related
risks and opportunities from companies' physical assets.
Investors managing $32
trillion in assets call for action on climate change. A total of
415 investors from across the world including UBS Asset Management and
Aberdeen Standard Investments signed the 2018 Global Investor Statement to
Governments on Climate Change demanding urgent action.
Films about Sustainable Resource Management
Ray Anderson: The Business Logic of Sustainability (youtube)
Ecology of Commerce (amazon)
Amory
Lovins: We Must Win the Oil Endgame (youtube)
Oil End Game
Johan Rockstrom let the Environment
Guide our Development
(video)
James Hansen: Why I must Speak Out about Climate Change
(video)
Steve Howard: Lets Go All in on Selling Sustainability
(video)
Aluna
(2014) 1:29.01
Kogi People (wiki)
MOMENTA
38:20 (proposed coal exports)
Paul Gilding: The Earth is Full
(video)
Pavan Sukhdev: What is the Price of Nature
(video) -
PS
E. O. Wilson on Saving life on Earth (video)
Encyclopedia of Life
Garth Lenz: The True Cost of Oil
(video)
Witness :
To the Last Drop - Part 1 (youtube)
Keystone Pipeline (wiki) -
Stop Keystone XL
Oil Sands -
Dirty Oil Sands -
Murder by Oil
Above
All Else (09/20/2014 - 1:35) This movie shows the
criminals, the murderers, the liars, the polluters, and the
thieves of the Keystone Pipeline. All who work for the Keystone
Pipeline are
accessories to these crimes.
List Of Corporate Crimes being Committed -
Reasons
Idle no More
-
Idle No More (wiki)
First Nations -
Sacred
Spirit Of Water (youtube)
Environmental Films -
Environmental News
Environmental Journalism -
Guerra
Green Building -
Green Fuels -
Alternate Fuels -
Electric Cars -
Green Products
Land Conservation Websites -
Ocean Protection Websites -
River Protection Websites
Norman Borlaug -
Green Revolution
Nature
Sound Map Sounds of Nature around the world
Problem Solving -
Math -
Engineering -
ScienceBiomimicry
-
Ideas -
Eco-Initiatives -
Water
Laws of Nature are recurring
facts or events in nature.
Reality
Order is a logical or comprehensible arrangement of
separate elements.
A condition of regular or proper arrangement.
Interdependence is a
reciprocal relation between interdependent entities.
"Whatever we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves."
Environment Quotes
"It's not just our actions that do damage, it's also our
inactions that do damage."
Inactive is not
progressing, or
progressing to slowly. Not exerting
influence or change. Lacking activity. Lacking in energy or will. Lying idle or
unused. Not active physically or mentally.
Earth Biology
Plants (botany) -
Insects
-
Animals
Biology -
Biomimcry
-
Naturalist
Intelligence
Evolution -
Earth Timeline -
Geography
-
Oceans
Geology - Rocks - Dirt
Geology is the study of
rocks and
solid earth.
A science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks.
Geologists study the materials, processes, and history of the Earth.
They
investigate how rocks were formed
and what has happened to them since their formation. Geologist is a
scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and
gaseous matter that constitutes Earth
and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them.
Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, although
backgrounds in physics,
chemistry,
biology, and other
sciences are also useful. Field research (field work) is an important
component of geology, although many
subdisciplines incorporate laboratory and digitalized work. Geologists
can be classified in a larger group of scientists, called geoscientists.
Earth Science is the study of geology, the
lithosphere,
and the large-scale structure of the
Earth's interior, as well as the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Typically, Earth scientists use
tools from
geography, physics,
chemistry, biology, chronology, and
mathematics to build a quantitative understanding of how the Earth system
works and evolves.
Geochemical Analysis
is the process through which scientists determine the chemical compounds
that constitute Earth, its atmosphere, and its seas. To a lesser degree,
geochemical analysis can also be used to understand extraterrestrial
materials such as moon rocks or Martian soil samples.
Geo-Chemistry is
the science that uses the tools and principles of
chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind
major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its
oceans. The
realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the entire
solar system, and has made important contributions to the understanding of
a number of processes including
mantle convection, the formation of
planets and the origins of granite and basalt.
Geochemists study the composition, structure, processes, and other
physical aspects of the
Earth. They
examine the distribution of
chemical
elements in rocks and
minerals,
and the movement of these elements into
soil and
water systems.
Mineral is a naturally
occurring
chemical compound, usually
of crystalline form and abiogenic in origin. A mineral has one specific
chemical composition, whereas a rock can be an aggregate of different
minerals or mineraloids. The study of minerals is called mineralogy.
Mineralogy is a
subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of
chemistry, crystal structure, and physical
(including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts.
Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin
and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical
distribution, as well as their utilization.
Soil
-
Metal Working -
Elements -
Rare Earth Metals -
Time Dating
208 species of minerals exist today solely due to human
Mining in locations around the world. These minerals
represent nearly 4 percent of the 5,200 mineral species recognized by the
International
Mineralogical Association, which is an international group of 38
national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and
to standardize the nomenclature of the 4000 plus known mineral species.
The IMA is affiliated with the
International Union of Geological Sciences, which is devoted to
international cooperation in the field of geology.
There are around 5,200 Minerals
Zircon
is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is
zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4.
Carbon Dating
Guide to
Rocks, Minerals, & Gemstones -
Crystals
List of U.S. State Minerals, Rocks, Stones and Gemstones (wiki)
Congo Tourmaline Gemstone that is cut to look Pixelated.
Silicate
Minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They
are the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals and make
up approximately 90 percent of the Earth's crust. They are classified
based on the structure of their silicate groups, which contain different
ratios of silicon and oxygen.
Rock
is a natural substance, a solid aggregate of one or more minerals or
mineraloids. For example, granite, a common rock, is a combination of the
minerals quartz, feldspar and biotite. The
Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. Three
major groups of rocks are defined: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
The scientific study of rocks is called
petrology, which is an essential
component of geology. Earth’s rocks contain more than 4,000 different
minerals, the
crystalline molecules
that make up rocks.
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains desirable
minerals, typically metals, that can
be extracted from it. Ore is
extracted from the earth
through mining and refined, often via smelting, to extract the
valuable element or elements. The grade of ore refers to the concentration
of the desired material it contains. The value of the metal an ore
contains must be weighed against the cost of extraction to determine
whether it is of sufficiently high grade to be worth mining. Metal ores
are generally oxides, sulfides, silicates, native metals such as copper,
or noble metals such as gold. Ores must be processed to extract the
elements of interest from the waste rock. Ore bodies are formed by a
variety of geological processes generally referred to as ore genesis.
Alloy
is a combination of a metal and one or more other elements.
Igneous Rock or
magmatic rock, is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma
or lava. The magma can be derived from partial melts of existing rocks in
either a
planet's mantle or crust. Typically, the melting is caused by one
or more of three processes: an increase in temperature, a decrease in
pressure, or a change in composition. Solidification into rock occurs
either below the surface as intrusive rocks or on the surface as extrusive
rocks. Igneous rock may form with crystallization to form granular,
crystalline rocks, or without crystallization to form natural glasses.
Volcanic Rock is
a rock formed from magma erupted from a
volcano. In other words, it
differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock
types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic
rocks grade into hypabyssal and metamorphic rocks and constitute an
important element of some sediments and sedimentary rocks. For these
reasons, in geology, volcanics and shallow hypabyssal rocks are not always
treated as distinct. In the context of Precambrian shield geology, the
term "
volcanic" is often applied to what are strictly metavolcanic rocks.
Volcanic rocks are among the most common rock types on Earth's surface,
particularly in the oceans. On land, they are very common at plate
boundaries and in flood basalt provinces. It has been estimated that
volcanic rocks cover about 8% of the
Earth's
current land surface.
Metamorphic Rock
arises from the transformation of existing rock types, in a process called
metamorphism, which means "change in form". The original rock (protolith)
is subjected to heat (temperatures greater than 150 to 200 °C) and
pressure (1500 bars), causing profound physical and/or chemical change.
The protolith may be a sedimentary rock, an igneous rock or another older
metamorphic rock.
Metamorphism is the
change of minerals or geologic texture (distinct
arrangement of minerals) in pre-existing rocks (protoliths), without the
protolith melting into liquid magma (a solid-state change). The change
occurs primarily due to heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically
active fluids. The chemical components and crystal structures of the
minerals making up the rock may change even though the rock remains a
solid. Changes at or just beneath Earth's surface due to weathering and/or
diagenesis are not classified as metamorphism. Metamorphism typically
occurs between diagenesis (max. 200°C), and melting (~850°C). Three types
of metamorphism exist: contact, dynamic, and regional. Metamorphism
produced with increasing pressure and temperature conditions is known as
prograde metamorphism. Conversely, decreasing temperatures and pressure
characterize retrograde metamorphism.
Sedimentary Rock
are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent
cementation of that material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of
water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause
mineral and/or organic particles (detritus) to settle in place. The
particles that form a sedimentary rock by accumulating are called
sediment. Before being deposited, the sediment was formed by weathering
and
erosion from the source area, and then transported to the place of
deposition by water, wind, ice, mass movement or glaciers, which are
called agents of denudation. Sedimentation may also occur as minerals
precipitate from water solution or shells of aquatic creatures settle out
of suspension.
Gravel
is a loose aggregation of
rock fragments.
Gravel is classified by particle size range and includes size classes from
granule- to boulder-sized fragments. In the Udden-Wentworth scale gravel
is categorized into granular gravel (2mm to
4 mm or
0.079" to
0.157 in) and
pebble gravel (
4mm to 64 mm or 0.2" to
2.5 in).
ISO 14688 grades gravels as fine, medium, and coarse with ranges 2 mm to
6.3 mm to 20 mm to 63 mm. One cubic metre of gravel typically weighs about
1,800 kg (or a cubic yard weighs about 3,000 pounds). Gravel is an
important commercial product, with a number of applications. Many roadways
are surfaced with gravel, especially in rural areas where there is little
traffic. Globally, far
more roads are surfaced with gravel than with
concrete or tarmac; Russia alone has over 400,000 km (250,000 mi) of
gravel roads. Both sand and small gravel are also important for the
manufacture of
concrete.
Rubble
is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed
especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known
also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash). Where present, it becomes more
noticeable when the land is ploughed or worked.
Silicon
is a tetravalent nonmetallic
element.
Next to
oxygen, Silicon is the most abundant
element in the
earth's crust that occurs
in
clay and feldspar,
rocks and granite, and quartz and
sand. Silicon used as a
semiconductor in transistors. Si
and atomic number 14. A hard and brittle crystalline solid with a
blue-grey metallic lustre. The vast majority of computing devices today
are made from silicon. And while it is not the best semiconducting
material that exists on the planet, it is by far the most readily
available. As such, silicon is the dominant material used in most
electronic devices, including
sensors,
solar cells, and the
integrated circuits within our computers
and
smartphones.
Sand -
Silt -
Soil Science
-
Soil -
Water Filters
Aggregate
in geology is a mass of mineral crystals, mineraloid
particles or rock particles.
Cement.
Agate is an impure form of quartz
consisting of banded chalcedony, which is a milky or greyish translucent
to transparent quartz; used as a gemstone and for making
mortars and
pestles.
Quartz is a colorless glass made of almost
pure silica. A hard glossy mineral consisting of silicon dioxide in
crystal form; present in most rocks
(especially sandstone and granite); yellow sand is quartz with iron oxide
impurities.
Glass is a brittle
transparent solid with irregular atomic structure.
Crystals.
Diamonds are hard and strong because Diamonds carbon shares electrons
with four other
carbon atoms - forming
four single bonds operating in 3-dimensions making a
structure.
Diamonds
don't conduct electricity. All the electrons are held tightly between the
atoms, and aren't free to move.
Graphite
has layers that leaves out the fourth electron in the bonding level,
making it soft and brittle.
Gemstone
is a
crystalline rock that can be cut
and polished for jewelry.
Stratigraphy is a
branch of geology which studies rock layers (strata) and layering
(stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and
layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has two related subfields: lithologic
stratigraphy or lithostratigraphy, and biologic stratigraphy or biostratigraphy.
Ecology -
Ecosystem -
Geophysiology -
Farming
Geologist
is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes
the Earth as well as the processes and history that have shaped it.
Water - Aquatic Ecosystems - Oceans
Hydrosphere is the combined mass of
water found on, under, and above the
surface of a planet, minor planet
or natural satellite.
Hydrogeology is the area of
geology that deals with the
distribution and movement of
groundwater in the
soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in aquifers). The term
geohydrology is often used interchangeably. Some make the minor
distinction between a hydrologist or engineer applying themselves to
geology (geohydrology), and a geologist applying themselves to hydrology
or
hydrogeology.
Oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the
ocean, especially the motions and physical
properties of
ocean waters.
Aquatic
Ecosystem is an
ecosystem in a body of water.
Communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their
environment live in aquatic ecosystems. The two main types of aquatic
ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems.
Marine Ecosystem are the largest of Earth's aquatic
ecosystems and are distinguished by waters that
have a high
salt content. These
systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt
content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and
account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply and 90% of habitable
space on Earth. Marine ecosystems include nearshore systems, such as the
salt marshes, mudflats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rocky intertidal
systems and coral reefs. They also extend outwards from the coast to
include offshore systems, such as the surface ocean, pelagic ocean waters,
the deep sea, oceanic hydrothermal vents, and the sea floor. Marine
ecosystems are characterized by the biological community of organisms that
they are associated with and their physical environment.
Freshwater Ecosystem are a subset of Earth's aquatic ecosystems. They
include lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands. They
can be contrasted with marine ecosystems, which have a larger salt
content. Freshwater habitats can be classified by different factors,
including temperature, light penetration, nutrients, and vegetation.
Freshwater ecosystems have undergone substantial transformations over
time, which has impacted various characteristics of the ecosystems.
Freshwater ecosystems can be divided into lentic ecosystems (still water)
and lotic ecosystems (flowing water). Limnology (and its branch freshwater
biology) is a study about freshwater ecosystems. It is a part of
hydrobiology. Original attempts to understand and monitor freshwater
ecosystems were spurred on by threats to human health (ex. Cholera
outbreaks due to sewage contamination). Early monitoring focused on
chemical indicators, then bacteria, and finally algae, fungi and protozoa.
A new type of monitoring involves quantifying differing groups of
organisms (macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and fish) and measuring the
stream conditions associated with them.
Marine Biology is the scientific study of marine life, organisms in
the sea. Given that in
biology many phyla,
families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that
live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment
rather than on taxonomy. A large proportion of all life on Earth lives in
the ocean. The exact size of this large proportion is unknown, since many
ocean species are still to be discovered. The ocean is a complex
three-dimensional world covering approximately 71% of the Earth's surface.
The habitats studied in marine biology include everything from the tiny
layers of surface water in which organisms and abiotic items may be
trapped in surface tension between the ocean and atmosphere, to the depths
of the oceanic trenches, sometimes 10,000 meters or more beneath the
surface of the ocean. Specific habitats include coral reefs, kelp forests,
seagrass meadows, the surrounds of seamounts and thermal vents, tidepools,
muddy, sandy and rocky bottoms, and the open ocean (pelagic) zone, where
solid objects are rare and the surface of the water is the only visible
boundary. The organisms studied range from microscopic phytoplankton and
zooplankton to huge cetaceans (whales) 25–32 meters (82–105 feet) in
length. Marine ecology is the study of how marine organisms interact with
each other and the environment. Marine life is a vast resource, providing
food, medicine, and raw materials, in addition to helping to support
recreation and tourism all over the world. At a fundamental level, marine
life helps determine the very nature of our planet. Marine organisms
contribute significantly to the oxygen cycle, and are involved in the
regulation of the Earth's climate. Shorelines are in part shaped and
protected by marine life, and some marine organisms even help create new
land. Many species are economically important to humans, including both
finfish and shellfish. It is also becoming understood that the well-being
of marine organisms and other organisms are linked in fundamental ways.
The human body of knowledge regarding the relationship between life in the
sea and important cycles is rapidly growing, with new discoveries being
made nearly every day. These cycles include those of matter (such as the
carbon cycle) and of air (such as Earth's respiration, and movement of
energy through ecosystems including the ocean). Large areas beneath the
ocean surface still remain effectively unexplored.
The term
marine comes from the Latin
mare, meaning sea or
ocean.
Marine
Life or sea life or ocean life, is the plants, animals and other
organisms that live in the
salt water
of the sea or
ocean, or the brackish water
of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the
nature of the planet. Marine organisms produce oxygen and sequester
carbon. Shorelines are in part shaped and protected by marine life, and
some marine organisms even help create new land. The term marine comes
from the Latin mare, meaning sea or ocean.
Marine Habitats are
habitats that support
marine life. Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in
the sea. A habitat is an ecological or environmental area inhabited by one
or more living species. The marine environment supports many kinds of
these habitats. Marine habitats can be divided into coastal and open ocean
habitats. Coastal habitats are found in the area that extends from as far
as the tide comes in on the shoreline out to the edge of the continental
shelf. Most marine life is found in coastal habitats, even though the
shelf area occupies only seven percent of the total ocean area. Open ocean
habitats are found in the deep ocean beyond the edge of the continental
shelf. Alternatively, marine habitats can be divided into pelagic and
demersal zones. Pelagic habitats are found near the surface or in the open
water column, away from the bottom of the ocean. Demersal habitats are
near or on the bottom of the ocean. An organism living in a pelagic
habitat is said to be a pelagic organism, as in pelagic fish. Similarly,
an organism living in a demersal habitat is said to be a demersal
organism, as in demersal fish. Pelagic habitats are intrinsically shifting
and ephemeral, depending on what ocean currents are doing. Marine habitats
can be modified by their inhabitants. Some marine organisms, like corals,
kelp, mangroves and seagrasses, are ecosystem engineers which reshape the
marine environment to the point where they create further habitat for
other organisms. By volume the ocean provides most of the habitable space
on the planet.
Living Shorelines are a relatively new approach for addressing
shoreline erosion and protecting marsh areas. Unlike traditional
structures such as bulkheads or seawalls that worsen erosion, living
shorelines incorporate as many natural elements as possible which create
more effective buffers in absorbing wave energy and protecting against
shoreline erosion. The process of creating a living shoreline is referred
to as soft engineering, which utilizes techniques that incorporate
ecological principles in shoreline stabilization. The natural materials
used in the construction of living shorelines create and maintain valuable
habitats. Structural and organic materials commonly used in the
construction of living shorelines include sand, wetland plants, sand fill,
oyster reefs, submerged aquatic vegetation, stones and coir fiber logs.
Monitoring.
Artificial Reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically
built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom,
to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or
improve surfing. Many reefs are built using objects that were built for
other purposes, for example by sinking oil rigs (through the Rigs-to-Reefs
program), scuttling ships, or by deploying rubble or construction debris.
Other artificial reefs are purpose built (e.g. the reef balls) from PVC or
concrete. Shipwrecks may become artificial reefs when preserved on the sea
floor. Regardless of construction method, artificial reefs generally
provide hard surfaces where algae and invertebrates such as barnacles,
corals, and oysters attach; the accumulation of attached marine life in
turn provides intricate structure and food for assemblages of fish.
Reef Ball is an artificial reef technology, combined with coral
propagation, transplant technology, public education and community
training to build, restore and protect coral reefs. The foundation has
established "Reef Ball reefs" in 59 countries, and ongoing projects
increase the number to more than 70. Over 550,000 Reef Balls have been
deployed in more than 4,000 projects.
Monitoring.
Geography
Geography is a field of
science devoted to the
study of the
lands, the features, the
inhabitants, and the phenomena of
Earth.
Topography (earth surface) -
Maps -
Tools -
Navigation
-
Hiking and Climbing
U.S. Geological Survey - "Geology Rocks but Geography is where it's at."
Geographic Information System is a system designed to capture, store,
manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data. The
acronym GIS is sometimes used for geographic information science (GIScience)
to refer to the academic discipline that studies geographic information
systems and is a large domain within the broader academic discipline of
geoinformatics. What goes beyond a GIS is a
spatial data infrastructure, a concept that has no such restrictive
boundaries.
Earth (planet) -
Continents
-
Countries -
States -
Cities
Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and
principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological
systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of
geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the entire Solar
System and has made important contributions to the understanding of a
number of processes including mantle convection, the formation of planets
and the origins of granite and basalt
Geomorphology
is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of
topographic and
bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes
operating at or near the Earth's surface.
Geotechnical Engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned
with the engineering behavior of earth materials.
Geological Engineering is a hybrid discipline that comprises elements
of civil engineering,
mining engineering, petroleum engineering, and earth
sciences.
Geophysical Engineering is the application of geophysics to the
engineering design of facilities including roads, tunnels, and mines.
Global Environment
Facility was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to
help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then,
the GEF has provided over $17 billion in grants and mobilized an
additional $88 billion in financing for more than 4000 projects in 170
countries. Today, the GEF is an international partnership of 183
countries, international institutions, civil society organizations and the
private sector that addresses global environmental issues.
Engineering Geology is the application of the geological sciences to
engineering study.
We are already doing
Geo-Engineering, we polluted the air, land and water, we over fish,
we cut down too many trees, we raise too many farm animals just for meat,
and we added lots of
CO2 into the air.
Climate ChangeRestoration -
Environmental Engineering
Core Sample is a cylindrical section of (usually) a
naturally occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling
with special drills into the substance, for example sediment or rock, with
a hollow steel tube called a core drill. The hole made for the core sample
is called the "core bowling". A variety of core samplers exist to sample
different media under different conditions. More continue to be invented
on a regular basis. In the coring process, the sample is pushed more or
less intact into the tube. Removed from the tube in the laboratory, it is
inspected and analyzed by different techniques and equipment depending on
the type of data desired. Core samples can be taken to test the properties
of manmade materials, such as concrete, ceramics, some metals and alloys,
especially the softer ones. Core samples can also be taken of living
things, including human beings, especially of a person's bones for
microscopic examination to help diagnose diseases.
Measuring How Old Something Is (dating time)
The
Encyclopedia of Earth -
Chemistry -
Biology
Land Development -
Sustainable Landscapes -
Spatial Awareness
Eratosthenes invented the discipline of geography, including
the terminology used today. A Greek mathematician and astronomer
who estimated the circumference of the earth and the distances
to the Moon and sun (276-194 BC)
Animals
Zoology is the branch of
biology that
studies the animal kingdom, including the structure,
embryology,
evolution, classification,
habits, and distribution of
all
animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their
ecosystems.
Ethology is the
scientific and
objective study of
animal behavior, usually with a focus on
behavior
under natural
conditions, and viewing
behavior as an
evolutionarily adaptive trait.
Ethology is the branch of zoology that studies the
behavior of animals
in their natural habitats.
Ethnozoology is the study of the past and present interrelationships
between
human cultures and the animals in their
environment. It includes classification and naming of
zoological forms,
cultural knowledge and use of wild
and
domestic animals. It is one of the main
sub-disciplines of ethnobiology and shares many methodologies and
theoretical frameworks with
ethnobotany.
Animals
are multicellular,
eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia (also
called Metazoa). The animal kingdom emerged as a basal clade within
Apoikozoa as a sister of the choanoflagellates. Sponges are the most basal
clade of animals. Animals are
motile, meaning they can move spontaneously
and independently at some point in their lives. Their body plan eventually
becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of
metamorphosis later on in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs: they
must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance.
Animal Photos (images) -
Zoos -
Aquariums -
Oceans
Some of the
Sounds that you will Hear on Earth.
Fauna is all the animal life in a
particular region or period. All the animal life in a particular region or
period
Megafauna
are large or giant animals. -
Eggs (image)
Mammals are any vertebrates within the class Mammalia
distinguished from reptiles and birds by the possession of a
neocortex (a region of the brain), hair,
three middle ear bones and mammary glands.
Catacean Hearing and Augmented Telemetry is an underwater computer
that receives sounds via two hydrophones, and produces a few basic
artificial sounds through an underwater speaker, specifically whistles
outside of the dolphins natural repertoire.
Apex predators not a quick fix for restoring ecosystems, 20-year CSU
study finds.
Wildlife
Corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations
separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development,
or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between populations,
which may help prevent the negative effects of inbreeding and reduced
genetic diversity (via genetic drift) that often occur within isolated
populations. Corridors may also help facilitate the re-establishment of
populations that have been reduced or eliminated due to random events
(such as fires or disease). This may potentially moderate some of the
worst effects of habitat fragmentation, wherein urbanization can split up
habitat areas, causing animals to lose both their natural habitat and the
ability to move between regions to use all of the resources they need to
survive. Habitat fragmentation due to human development is an
ever-increasing threat to biodiversity, and habitat corridors are a possible mitigation.
Wild Smart.
Biophony
refers to the collective
sound that
vocalizing animals create in each given environment.
Ways to Save some of the Worlds Rarest Species.
Cuckoo Bird
lays their eggs in the nests of other species, but the majority of species
raise their own young.
Cuckoo is a
man who is a
stupid incompetent fool.
Seahorse males give birth and are impregnated by female Seahorses.
Hyena
females are larger and stronger then male Hyenas.
Camouflage is the use of any
combination of materials, coloration, or
illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to
see (crypsis), or by disguising them as something else (mimesis). Examples
include the leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier,
and the leaf-mimic katydid's wings. A third approach, motion dazzle,
confuses the observer with a conspicuous pattern, making the object
visible but momentarily harder to locate. The majority of camouflage
methods aim for crypsis, often through a general
resemblance to the background, high
contrast disruptive coloration, eliminating shadow, and countershading. In
the open ocean, where there is no background, the principal methods of
camouflage are transparency, silvering, and countershading, while the
ability to produce light is among other things used for
counter-illumination on the undersides of cephalopods such as squid. Some
animals, such as chameleons and octopuses, are capable of actively
changing their skin pattern and colours, whether for camouflage or for
signaling. It is possible that some plants use camouflage to evade being
eaten by
herbivores.
Masquerade is to pretend to be someone or
something that you are not. Making a false outward show.
Bees -
Pesticides -
Extinction
Over the past half-century, North America has lost more than a quarter of
its entire bird population, or around
3
billion birds died.
Incredibly simple
tip to prevent birds flying into window by drawing White Vertical
Lines on window glass. (youtube).
Avifauna are the birds of a particular
region, habitat, or geological period.
The United Nations estimates
that
1 million species are on the verge of being wiped out, threatened by
climate change, habitat loss, pollution, invasive species and poaching. In
the United States, the federal government has oversight of the more than
1,600 species listed under the
Endangered Species Act of
1973—and
powerful legal tools to protect them. But more than 12,000 additional
species have been identified as declining or rare, and wildlife experts
fear that without action many of them will soon be endangered.
Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2021 - H.R.2773.
Animal populations experience average decline of almost 70% since 1970,
report reveals. The World Wildlife Fund studied more than 5,200 species
for its Living Planet Report, and found that out of the nearly 32,000
populations analyzed, there was an average decline of 69% since 1970. Up
to 2.5% of mammals, fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians have already gone
extinct, the report says.
Extinction.
A
2014 study that estimated anywhere from 365 million to nearly
one billion birds are killed by window collisions each year in the U.S.
alone. More than half the data relied upon for that study came from
citizen-science projects around North America.
Animal Migration is the relatively long-distance movement of
individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common
form of migration in ecology. It is found in all major animal groups,
including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and
crustaceans. The cause of migration may be local climate, local
availability of food, the season of the year or for mating. Human
Migration.
Human Migration.
Wallace Line is a faunal boundary line that separates distinct regions
of biodiversity and seperates the biogeographical realms of Asia and
Wallacea. This transitional zone between Asia and Australia that is also
called the Malay Archipelago and the Indo-Australian Archipelago. There is
a clear division in the types of land mammals and birds. A line that
animals, for some reason, don't want to cross.
Migrating Animal Populations are dwindling across the world. Every
year, as the
seasons change, billions of
animals embark on journeys to find food, to get to better habitats or to
breed. They migrate in groups and as individuals, flying, swimming,
crawling and walking across
international
borders and through habitats to survive, transporting seeds and
nutrients. A major new report by the United Nations finds that humans are
not only making those journeys more difficult, but have put many migratory
species in a perilous state. Nearly half of the world's already threatened
migratory species have declining populations, the first of its kind UN
report found. More than a fifth of the nearly 1,200 migratory species
monitored by the UN – whales, sea turtles, apes, songbirds and others –
are threatened with extinction.
Human-caused climate change is altering seasons, lengthening summers,
shortening winters and shifting the timing of spring and fall. Scientists
have documented animals, like birds in North America, adjusting the timing
of their migrations to match those shifts. Not all are keeping pace with
the
rate of change, leading to what scientists call
phenological asynchrony, which is the seasonal peak in demand for a
resource does not coincide with the seasonal peak in availability of that
resource.
Convention on
the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
Loss of Nature and rising
water
insecurity are global health threats that must be confronted together.
Environmental stressors, including
global warming,
illegal logging,
mining, land
conversion, and wildlife trafficking, all have deep and
detrimental impacts on the
biodiversity of our planet and the availability of clean and safe
water for human use.
Wild Cooperative
-
Selective Fishery is the respectful and responsible harvesting of wild
salmon.
Reef Netting.
The Vertebrate Genomes Project. Critters With A Backbone. Referenced
genome assemblies provide a map of a species’
DNA sequence and its spatial
context—that is, where along the chromosomes a specific piece of
DNA sequence can be found. In the
past, the generation of reference assemblies was prohibitively expensive
and labour-intensive, so they were only produced for humans and the most
important model organisms, and still contained gaps and errors. Draft
genomes generated using more affordable second-generation sequencing
technologies could be assembled for a larger number of species, but these
were of lower quality because they were highly fragmented and their
annotation was erroneous in some parts.
Humans -
Evolution
-
Paleoecology (ancient cultures)
Genome 10K
is a project to sequence the genome of at least one individual from each
vertebrate genus, approximately 10,000 genomes.
Aquatic Mammals and semiaquatic mammals are a diverse group of mammals
that dwell partly or entirely in bodies of water. They include the various
marine mammals who dwell in oceans, as well as various freshwater species,
such as the European otter. They are not a taxon and are not unified by
any distinct biological grouping, but rather their dependence on and
integral relation to aquatic ecosystems. The level of dependence on
aquatic life varies greatly among species. Among freshwater taxa, the
Amazonian manatee and river dolphins are completely aquatic and fully
dependent on aquatic ecosystems. Semiaquatic freshwater taxa include the
Baikal seal, which feeds underwater but rests, molts, and breeds on land;
and the capybara and hippopotamus which are able to venture in and out of
water in search of food. Mammal adaptation to an aquatic lifestyle vary
considerably between species. River dolphins and manatees are both fully
aquatic and therefore are completely tethered to a life in the water.
Seals are semiaquatic; they spend the majority of their time in the water,
but need to return to land for important activities such as mating,
breeding and molting. In contrast, many other aquatic mammals, such as
hippopotamus, capybara, and water shrews, are much less adapted to aquatic
living. Likewise, their diet ranges considerably as well, anywhere from
aquatic plants and leaves to small fish and crustaceans. They play major
roles in maintaining aquatic ecosystems, beavers especially. Aquatic
mammals were the target for commercial industry, leading to a sharp
decline in all populations of exploited species, such as beavers. Their
pelts, suited for conserving heat, were taken during the fur trade and
made into coats and hats. Other aquatic mammals, such as the Indian
rhinoceros, were targets for sport hunting and had a sharp population
decline in the 1900s. After it was made illegal, many aquatic mammals
became subject to poaching. Other than hunting, aquatic mammals can be
killed as bycatch from fisheries, where they become entangled in fixed
netting and drown or starve. Increased river traffic, most notably in the
Yangtze river, causes collisions between fast ocean vessels and aquatic
mammals, and damming of rivers may land migratory aquatic mammals in
unsuitable areas or destroy habitat upstream. The industrialization of
rivers led to the extinction of the Chinese river dolphin, with the last
confirmed sighting in 2004.
Dolphins,
like other mammals, they are warm-blooded, give birth to live young, feed
their babies milk, and breathe air through their lungs.
Dolphins communicate with clicks and
whistles. They develop their own personal whistle, which is distinct from
other dolphins'. Mother dolphins whistle to their babies frequently after
birth so that the calves learn to recognize their mother's whistle.
Spawn is
the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As
a verb, to spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm,
and the act of both sexes is called
spawning.
Most aquatic animals, except for aquatic mammals and reptiles,
reproduce through the process of
spawning. Spawn consists of the reproductive cells (gametes) of many
aquatic animals, some of which will become fertilized and produce
offspring. The process of spawning typically involves females releasing
ova (unfertilized eggs) into the water, often in large quantities, while
males simultaneously or sequentially release spermatozoa (milt) to
fertilize the eggs. Most fish reproduce by spawning, as do most other
aquatic animals, including crustaceans such as crabs and shrimps, molluscs
such as oysters and squid, echinoderms such as sea urchins and sea
cucumbers, amphibians such as frogs and newts, aquatic insects such as
mayflies and mosquitoes and corals, which are actually small aquatic
animals—not plants. Fungi, such as mushrooms, are also said to "spawn" a
white, fibrous matter that forms the matrix from which they grow. There
are many variations in the way spawning occurs, depending on sexual
differences in anatomy, how the sexes relate to each other, where and how
the spawn is released and whether or how the spawn is subsequently
guarded.
Asexual
Reproduction.
Adam Walker was
protected from a great white shark by a pod of dolphins while swimming
to raise money for dolphin conservation. About 10 dolphins surrounded him
for about 1 hr in Cook Strait, 6th leg of the Oceans Seven: a marathon of
7 long-distance open water channel swims around the world.
New theory predicts movement of different animals using sensing to search.
A research team has developed a new theory that can predict the movement
of an animal's sensory organs -- such as eyes, ears and nose -- while
searching for something vital to its life. The new theory, called
energy-constrained proportional betting provides a unifying explanation
for many enigmatic motions of sensory organs that have been previously
measured. The algorithm that follows from the theory generates simulated
sensory organ movements that show good agreement to actual sensory organ
movements from fish, mammals and insects.
Simple steps can cut snakebite deaths. About 140,000 people die each
year from snakebites worldwide, and another 400,000 are left with
permanent disability. 41% relied fully or partially on measures not
recognized by research or official advice -- such as sprinkling salt,
garlic, turmeric or bleach as deterrents.
Elephant turns a hose into a sophisticated showering tool. Tool use
isn't unique to humans. Chimpanzees use sticks as tools. Dolphins, crows,
and elephants are known for their
tool-use abilities, too. Now a report highlights elephants' remarkable
skill in using a hose as a flexible shower head. As an unexpected bonus,
researchers say they also have evidence that a fellow elephant knows how
to turn the water off, perhaps as a kind of 'prank.'
Insects
Insects
are a class of invertebrates within the arthropod phylum that have a
chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three
pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Insects are
the most diverse group of animals on the planet, including more than a
million described species and representing more than half of all known
living organisms. The number of extant species is estimated at between six
and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing
animal life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in nearly all
environments, although only a small number of species reside in the
oceans, a habitat dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans.
Dangerous
Spiders (image chart).
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of
zoology. Entomology is the study of how insects
relate to their environment and to man. As an entomologist, you may choose
to concentrate on the bad bugs: those that destroy food, housing, plants
and clothing, and cause discomfort and diseases in humans, livestock and
pets.
Aeroecology is the discipline for studying how
airborne life forms
utilize and interact with other biotic and abiotic components of the
atmosphere. The aerosphere is viewed as habitat and the way that organisms
respond to and take advantage of the dynamic aeroscape has relevance to
the ecology, evolution, and conservation of many of the world's bird, bat,
insect, and plant species.
Egg is
the organic vessel containing the zygote in which an animal
embryo
develops until it can survive on its own; at which point the animal
hatches. An egg results from fertilization of an ovum. Most arthropods,
vertebrates, and mollusks lay eggs, although some, such as scorpions and
most mammals, do not.
Larva is
a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into
adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or
cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
Pupa is
the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature
and mature stages. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous
insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, with four life
stages: egg, larva, pupa and imago. The processes of entering and
completing the pupal stage are controlled by the insect's hormones,
especially juvenile hormone, prothoracicotropic hormone, and ecdysone.
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically
develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively
abrupt
change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and
differentiation. Metamorphosis is iodothyronine-induced and an ancestral
feature of all chordates. Some insects, fishes, amphibians, mollusks,
crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis,
which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior.
Animals that go through metamorphosis are called metamorphoses. Animals
can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis ("holometaboly"),
incomplete metamorphosis ("hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis ("ametaboly").
Mimicry -
Abiogenesis -
CRISPR -
Self Replicating Machines
-
Insect Transformations (reddit video)
Imago
is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process
of growth and development; it also is called the imaginal stage, the stage
in which the insect attains maturity. It follows the final ecdysis of the
immature instars.
How Celibate Animals Evolved for 50 million years without ever having Sex.
Parthenogenesis is a natural form of
asexual reproduction in which
growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. In animals,
parthenogenesis means development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg
cell. In plants parthenogenesis is a component process of apomixis.
Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in some
plants, some invertebrate
animal
species (including nematodes, water fleas, some scorpions, aphids, some
mites, some bees, some Phasmida and parasitic wasps) and a few vertebrates
(such as some fish, amphibians, reptiles and very rarely birds). This type
of reproduction has been induced artificially in a few species including
fish and amphibians. Parthenogenesis is from the Greek παρθένος, parthénos,
'virgin' + γένεσις, génesis, 'creation').
Aphid
(wiki) -
Komodo
Dragon (wiki).
Gynogenesis is a form of parthenogenesis where an egg begins to divide
only after being pricked by a sperm cell, but without the genetic material
of the sperm being used. There are two known mechanisms of gynogenesis.
The first is an endomitotic event prior to meiosis, where the number of
chromosomes in a cell doubles without cell division taking place. After
meiosis each egg has the same ploidy (number of chromosomes) as the
mother. This particular parthenogentic mechanism has been observed in
unisexual Ambystoma species as well as Glandirana rugosa. The second
potential mechanism is apomixis, which produces a complete set of
chromosomes through mitotic replication. This method has not been observed
in any amphibious species. Courtship behavior between females of the same
species has been observed in Ambystoma platineum, and has been posited to
induce either oviposition of ovulation, though the precise utility of the
behavior is unknown.
Hybridogenesis is a mode of reproduction of hybrids. Hybridogenetic
hybrids (for example AB genome), usually females, during gametogenesis
exclude one of parental genomes (A) and produce gametes with unrecombined
genome of second parental species (B), instead of containing mixed
recombined parental genomes. First genome (A) is restored by fertilization
of these gametes with gametes from the first species (AA, sexual host,
usually male).
Klepton
is a species that requires input from another biological taxon (normally
from a species which is closely related to the kleptonic species) to
complete its reproductive cycle. Specific types of kleptons are
zygokleptons, which reproduce by zygogenesis; gynokleptons which reproduce
by gynogenesis, and tychokleptons, which reproduce by a combination of
both systems. The term is derived from the Greek, kleptein, "to steal" .Kleptogenic
reproduction results in three potential outcomes. A unisexual female may
simply activate cell division in the egg through the presence of a male's
sperm without incorporating any of his genetic material—this results in
the production of clonal offspring. The female may also incorporate the
male's sperm into her egg, but can do so without excising any of her
genetic material. This results in increased ploidy levels that range from
triploid to pentaploid in wild individuals. Finally, the female also has
the option of replacing some of her genetic material with that of the
male's, resulting in a "hybrid" of sorts without increasing ploidy.
Asexual
Reproduction is a type of
reproduction by which offspring arise from a single organism, and
inherit the
genes of that parent
only; it does not involve the fusion of gametes, and almost never changes
the number of
chromosomes.
Asexual reproduction is the primary form of reproduction for single-celled
organisms such as archaea and bacteria. Many plants and fungi sometimes
reproduce asexually.
Asexual reproduction can be successful in the long term. Some animal
species can survive successfully without
sexual reproduction. Studying a species of beetle mite, an
international research team has demonstrated for the first time that
animals can survive over very long periods of time (possibly millions of
years) entirely without sex. So far, scientists have seen the great
evolutionary advantage of sexual reproduction in the
genetic diversity produced in
offspring by the encounter of two different genomes that a pair of
parents can supply. In organisms with two sets of chromosomes, i.e. two
copies of the genome in each of their cells, such as humans and also
beetle mite species that reproduce sexually, sex ensures a constant
'mixing' of the two copies. That way, genetic diversity between different
individuals is ensured, but the two copies of the genome within the same
individual remain on average very similar. However, it is also possible
for asexually reproducing species, which produce genetic clones of
themselves, to introduce genetic variance into their genomes and thus
adapt to their environment during evolution. But (contrasting sexual
species) the lack of sexual reproduction and thus 'mixing' in asexual
species causes the two genome copies to independently accumulate
mutations, or changes in genetic information, and become increasingly
different within one individual: the two copies evolve independently of
one another. The Meselson effect describes the detection of these
differences in the chromosome sets of purely asexual species. 'That may
sound simple. But in practice, the Meselson effect has never been
conclusively demonstrated in animals -- until now,' explained Prof. Tanja
Schwander from the Department of Ecology and Evolution of the University
of Lausanne.
Hermaphrodite is an organism (plant or
animal) having both male and female
reproductive organs. (2) An organism
having both male and female organs. Therefore, is capable of producing
both male and female gametes. Sometimes the cannabis plant will produce
male organs on a female plant.
Hermaphrodite is
an organism that has reproductive organs and produces gametes normally
associated with both male and female sexes.
Plant Reproductive Morphology is the study of the physical form and
structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly
concerned with sexual reproduction.
Cloning is the process
of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that
occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects, plants or
animals reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes
used to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell
cloning), or organisms (organism cloning).
Inbreeding is the
production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or
organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is
used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic
disorders and other consequences that may arise from incestuous sexual
relationships and
consanguinity, which is the property of being from the same kinship as
another person. In that aspect, consanguinity is the quality of being
descended from the same ancestor as another person.
Incest is sexual
activity between family members or close relatives.
Phylogeny of insects is based on genome sequencing data, it
is estimated that the class of insects originated on Earth about
480 million years ago, in the
Ordovician, at about the same time terrestrial plants appeared.
Insect Agriculture is a specialized form of Symbiosis
Insect Photos (images) -
Bees -
Pesticides
Reversing Insect Declines. If you have a
lawn, mowing less can give insect
populations a boost. Kawahara suggests reserving 10% of a
landscape for insects, either
actively replacing a monoculture of grass with native plants or simply
leaving the space unmown. These miniature nature preserves provide crucial
habitat and food reservoirs for insects. In the U.S. alone,
wild insects contribute an estimated $70 billion
to the economy every year through free services such as pollination
and waste disposal. That's incredible, and most people have no idea.
Artificial lights are powerful attractants to nocturnal insects, which can
exhaust themselves to death by circling bulbs or fall prey to predators
that spot an easy target. Chemical pollutants in soaps for washing cars
and building exteriors and in coal-tar-based driveway sealants can harm a
variety of insect life.
Insect Recovery International Road Map -
Biodiversity
Moth is a group of
insects related to butterflies, belonging to the order
Lepidoptera. Most lepidopterans are moths, and there are thought to be
approximately
160,000 species of moth, many
of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but
there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
Butterfly are
insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order
Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large,
often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight.
Butterflies are classified in three superfamilies:
Papilionoidea or ‘true butterflies’. Hesperioidea, consisting of
the ‘skippers’. Hedyloidea, consisting of the ‘moth-butterflies’.
The five families of true butterflies usually recognized in the family
Papilionoidea are: Family Papilionidae, the Swallowtails, Apollos
and Birdwings. Family Pieridae, the Whites and Yellows. Family Lycaenidae,
the Blues and Coppers, also called the Gossamer-Winged Butterflies. Family
Riodinidae, the Metalmark butterflies. Family Nymphalidae, the
Brush-footed butterflies including the Monarch Butterfly.
Lepidopterology
is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the
three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone that studies in this field is
a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian.
Lepidoptera is an
order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called
lepidopterans). About
180,000 species of
the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10
per cent of the total described species of living organisms. It is one of
the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world.
The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have
evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates
suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, and is among
the four most speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera, Diptera, and
Coleoptera.
Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the moth-like
Hedylidae, which may
be distinguished by the following combination of characters: The body is
smaller and less moth-like. The wings are larger. The antennae are
straight and clubbed or hooked as in the skippers. The caterpillars do not
spin cocoons in which to pupate. The pupae are angular rather than
rounded. Recent phylogenetic analyses suggest the traditionally
circumscribed Papilionoidea are a paraphyletic group, and that skippers
and hedylids are true butterflies that should be included within the
Papilionoidea superfamily to reflect cladistic relationships.
4,000-Year-Old Termite Mounds found in Brazil are visible from space.
There are around 200 million cone-shaped mounds, each about 2.5 meters
tall and 9 meters across.
Physiology is the scientific study of the normal function in living systems.
Insects harbor over a thousand genes from microbes, which help them
survive. Hundreds of millions of years ago, microbes and plants might have
given insects an evolutionary advantage by passing genes to them through
horizontal gene transfer. Researchers now report that more than 1,400
genes across 218 insect species, including butterflies and moths,
originated from bacteria, viruses, fungi, and plants. The study argues
that these genes might have been essential for insect evolution by
allowing them to develop beneficial traits in mating behavior, nutrition,
growth, and adaptation to environmental changes.
Biodiversity
Crisis: Insect numbers collapse by 25 per cent around the world
since 1990.
Decline in insect populations include bees, butterflies, moths,
beetles, dragonflies and damselflies. Anecdotal evidence has been offered
of much greater apparent abundance of insects in the 20th century;
recollections of the windscreen phenomenon are an example. Possible causes
of the decline have been identified as habitat destruction, including
intensive agriculture, the use of pesticides (particularly insecticides),
urbanization, and industralization; introduced species; and climate
change. Not all insect orders are affected in the same way; many groups
are the subject of limited research, and comparative figures from earlier
decades are often not available. The decline of the scientific field of
entomology may also be contributing to errors in data analysis and
overgeneralization from limited findings, resulting in exaggeration of the
decline in insect populations. In response to the reported declines,
increased insect related conservation measures have been launched. In 2018
the German government initiated an "Action Programme for Insect
Protection", and in 2019 a group of 27 British entomologists and
ecologists wrote an open letter calling on the research establishment in
the UK "to enable intensive investigation of the real threat of ecological
disruption caused by insect declines without delay". Most commonly, the
declines involve reductions in abundance, though in some cases entire
species are going extinct. The declines are far from uniform. In some
localities, there have been reports of increases in overall insect
population, and some types of insects appear to be increasing in abundance
across the world. A 2020 meta study published in the journal Science found
that globally, terrestrial insects appear to declining in abundance at a
rate of about 9% per decade, while the abundance of freshwater insects has
increased. The authors note that the 9% figure may not accurately reflect
the pace of decline in all parts of the world. Compared to Europe, much
less historical data on insect decline is available for regions such as
Asia or Africa.
Habitat Loss.
Plants
Botany is the science of plant life and a branch of
biology.
All the plant life in a particular region or period.
Earth System Science
(biosphere).
Plants
are mainly multicellular, predominantly
photosynthetic eukaryotes of the
kingdom Plantae. The term is today generally limited to the green plants,
which form an unranked clade Viridiplantae (Latin for "green plants").
This includes the flowering plants,
conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns,
Grass, clubmosses, hornworts, liverworts, mosses and the
green algae, and
excludes the red and brown algae. Historically, plants formed one of two
kingdoms covering all living things that were not animals, and both
Algae
and
Fungi were treated as plants; however all current definitions of
"plant" exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the
archaea and bacteria). Green plants have cell walls with cellulose and
obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary
chloroplasts, derived from
endosymbiosis with
cyanobacteria. Their
chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green
color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce
normal amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are
characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations,
although asexual reproduction is also common. There are about
300–315 thousand species of plants, of
which the great majority, some 260–290 thousand, are
seed plants.
Green plants provide most of the
world's molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earth's
ecologies, especially on land. Plants that produce grains, fruits and
vegetables form humankind's basic foodstuffs, and have been domesticated
for millennia. Plants play many roles in culture. They are used as
ornaments and, until recently and in great variety, they have served as
the source of most medicines and drugs. The scientific study of plants is
known as botany, a branch of
biology.
Plants dominate every terrestrial environment, composing ninety-nine per cent of
the
biomass
on earth. By comparison, humans and all the other animals are, in the words of
one plant neurobiologist, “just traces.”
Plants are able to sense and optimally
respond to so many environmental variables—light, water, gravity, temperature,
soil structure, nutrients, toxins, microbes, herbivores, chemical
signals from
other plants—that there may exist some
brainlike information-processing system
to integrate the data and
coordinate a plant’s behavioral response.
Hibernation.
There are over 500,000 plant species in the world today. They all
evolved from a common ancestor. How this leap in
biodiversity happened is still
unclear. Using genetic data from 1,147 species the team created the most
comprehensive evolutionary tree for green plants to date.
Earth's vegetation is changing faster today than it has over the last
18,000 years.
Secondary Metabolites are substances manufactured by plants that make
them
competitive in
their own environment. These small
molecules exert a wide range of effects on the plant itself and on
other
living organisms.
Secondary metabolites are also called
specialized metabolites,
toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are
organic compounds produced by any lifeform,
e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved
in the normal growth, development, or reproduction of the organism.
Instead, they generally mediate ecological
interactions, which may produce a selective advantage for the organism
by increasing its survivability or fecundity. Specific secondary
metabolites are often restricted to a narrow set of species within a
phylogenetic group. Secondary metabolites often play an important role in
plant defense against herbivory and
other interspecies defenses. Humans use secondary metabolites as
medicines, flavourings, pigments, and recreational drugs.
Metabolism.
Primary Metabolite is a kind of
metabolite that is
directly involved in normal growth, development, and reproduction. It
usually performs a physiological function in the organism (i.e. an
intrinsic function). A primary metabolite is typically present in many
organisms or
cells. It is also
referred to as a central metabolite, which has an even more restricted
meaning (present in any autonomously growing
cell or organism). Some
common examples of primary metabolites include: lactic acid, and certain
amino acids. Note that primary metabolites do not show any pharmacological
actions or effects.
More 'losers' than 'winners' among plants in the age of humans. A new
analysis spanning more than 86,000 plant species finds that on this
human-dominated planet, many more species of plants are poised to 'lose'
rather than 'win.' From changing Earth's climate to destroying, degrading
and altering ecosystems on a massive scale, human choices now largely
dictate the environmental conditions across much of the globe and, as a
result, which species of plants and animals can survive and persist and
which will go extinct. Species lucky enough to be directly or indirectly
aided by human activities are likely to survive and can be thought of as
"winners," while those that are pushed to ecological irrelevance or
extinction by those same activities are the ultimate "losers" in
evolutionary terms.
Plants that survived dinosaur extinction pulled nitrogen from air.
Nitrogen fixing bacteria may have helped some
cycads survive to the
present day. Ancient
cycad
lineages that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs may have done so by
relying on symbiotic bacteria in their roots to fix atmospheric
nitrogen. The finding came from an effort
to understand ancient atmospheres, but became an insight into plant
evolution instead. Cycad species that survived relied on symbiotic
bacteria in their roots, which provide them with nitrogen to grow. Just
like modern legumes and other plants that use nitrogen fixation, these
cycads trade their sugars with bacteria in their roots in exchange for
nitrogen plucked from the atmosphere.
Land plants changed Earth's composition. Scientists have discovered
that the evolution of land plants caused a sudden shift in the composition
of Earth's continents. The evolution of land plants took place about
430 million years ago during the
Silurian Period, when North America and Europe were conjoined in a
landmass called Pangaea. The proliferation of plants completely
transformed Earth's biosphere -- those parts of the planet's surface where
life thrives -- paving the way for the advent of dinosaurs about 200
million years later.
Warming Planet.
Plants have a backup plan. Plants like Arabidopsis rely on a molecule
called DDM1 to pass down accurate chromosome copies to future generations.
But if it's so important, why isn't Arabidopsis affected when DDM1 is
lost? After 30 years, botanists have found the answer. Arabidopsis has a
backup plan known as RNAi. Chromosomes have to be accurately partitioned
every time a cell divides. Centromeres control chromosome partitioning
with the help of a molecule called DDM1. When humans lose their version of
DDM1, centromeres can't divide evenly. This causes a severe genetic
condition called ICF syndrome. Decreased DNA Methylation I (DDM1), is a
plant gene that encodes a nucleosome remodeler which facilitates DNA
methylation. The DDM1 gene has been described extensively in Arabidopsis
thaliana and also in maize. The protein has been described to be similar
to the SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling proteins.
Flora is all the plant life in a
particular region or period. Flora in botany is a living organism lacking
the power of locomotion.
Aquatic
Plants are plants that have adapted to living in
aquatic environments
like
saltwater or freshwater.
Phytoplankton.
Indoor Plants -
Flowers -
Herbs -
Gardening (city farming) -
Plant Maintenance -
Biodiversity
Terrarium is usually a sealable glass container containing soil and
plants, and can be opened for maintenance to access the plants inside.
However, terraria can also be open to the atmosphere rather than being
sealed. The sealed container combined with the heat entering the terrarium
allows for the creation of a small scale
water
cycle. This happens because moisture from both the soil and plants
evaporates in the elevated temperatures inside the terrarium. This water
vapour then condenses on the walls of the container, and eventually falls
back to the plants and soil below. This contributes to creating an ideal
environment for growing plants due to the constant supply of water,
thereby preventing the plants from becoming over dry. In addition to this,
the light that passes through the transparent material of the terrarium
allows for the plants within to
photosynthesize,
a very important aspect of plant growth.
Life in Jars? (youtube) -
The Pond On My
Window Sill - Ecosphere Week 1 (youtube)
12 Year Old
Terrarium - Life Inside a closed jar, Over a decade in isolation (youtube)
Aquascaping is the craft of arranging aquatic plants, as well as
rocks, stones, cavework, or driftwood, in an aesthetically pleasing manner
within an aquarium—in effect, gardening under water. Aquascape designs
include a number of distinct styles, including the garden-like Dutch style
and the Japanese-inspired nature style. Typically, an aquascape houses
fish as well as plants, although it is possible to create an aquascape
with plants only, or with rockwork or other hardscape and no plants.
Plant Blindness or
Green Blindness is the inability to see or notice the plants in
one's own environment—leading to the inability to recognize the importance
of plants in the biosphere, and in human affairs, and the inability to
appreciate the aesthetic and unique biological features of the life forms.
The
Mid-Atlantic Megalopolis Project begins this study by looking at
vascular plants, with the digitization of nearly one million herbarium
specimens from thirteen institutions in the urban corridor from New York
City to Washington.
Intermountain Regional Herbarium Network
Plant Physiology is a sub-discipline of botany concerned with
the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include
plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with
the environment), phytochemistry (biochemistry of plants), cell biology,
genetics, biophysics and
molecular biology.
Plant Physiology -
Plant Genomics -
Developmental Biology -
Plant Biologists.
Discovering how plants make life-and-death decisions. Researchers have
discovered two proteins that work in tandem to control an important
response to cell stress. Within eukaryotic cells is an organelle known as
the
endoplasmic reticulum, or ER. It
creates
proteins and folds them into shapes the cell can utilize. Like cutting
up vegetables to use in a recipe, the proteins must be formed into the
right shape before they can be used.
Plant Intelligence
Plant Intelligence are the reactions within signalling
pathways may provide a biochemical basis for learning and memory in
addition to computation and problem solving. Controversially, the brain is
used as a metaphor in plant intelligence to provide an integrated view of signaling.
Study Shows Plants Talk through the Roots.
Plant Neurobiology is the sensory adaptive behaviour of
plants and plant
electrophysiology. A plant's sensory and response system
has been compared to the neurobiological processes of animals.
Electricity in Nature.
Plant
Cognition is the study of the learning and memory of plants.
Consciousness.
Electrical Experiments with Plants that Count and Communicate (video
and text)
Decoding the plant world's complex biochemical communication networks.
A research team has begun translating the complex molecular language of
petunias. Their grammar and vocabulary are well hidden, however, within
the countless proteins and other compounds that fill floral cells. Being
rooted to the ground, plants can't run away from insects, pathogens or
other threats to their survival. But plant scientists have long known that
they do send warnings to each other via scent chemicals called volatile
organic compounds.
Plants can distinguish when touch starts and stops, study suggests.
Even without nerves, plants can sense when something touches them and when
it lets go, a study has found. In a set of experiments, individual plant
cells responded to the touch of a very fine glass rod by sending slow
waves of calcium signals to other plant cells, and when that pressure was
released, they sent much more rapid waves. While scientists have known
that plants can respond to touch, this study shows that plant cells send
different signals when touch is initiated and ended.
Ecoation -
Measuring Plant Defensive Signals.
Plant Bioacoustics refers to the creation of
sound waves by plants. Measured sound
emissions by plants as well as differential germination rates, growth
rates and behavioral modifications in response to sound are well
documented. Plants detect neighbors by means other than well-established
communicative signals including volatile chemicals, light detection,
direct contact and root signaling. Because sound waves travel efficiently
through soil and can be produced with minimal energy expenditure, plants
may use sound as a means for interpreting their environment and
surroundings. Preliminary evidence supports that plants create sound in
root tips when cell walls break. Because plant roots respond only to sound
waves at frequencies which match waves emitted by the plants themselves,
it is likely that plants can receive and transduce sound vibrations into
signals to elicit behavioral modifications as a form of below ground
communication.
Sound Therapy.
Plants emit
ultrasonic sounds in rapid bursts when stressed. Plants make
high-pitched noises that humans can't hear, a study found. Researchers at
Israel's Tel Aviv university said thirsty or
stressed plants
emit popping sounds that are undetectable to the human ear the
scientists use special microphones to record ultrasonic sounds produced by
tomato and tobacco plants They found that plants that are not stressed
typically emitted. They found that plants that are not stressed typically
emitted less than one sound per hour while plants that were dehydrated or
injured produced dozens of sounds every hour. Plants also respond to
stress by changing color, smell or shape. The study was published Thursday
in the journal cell.
Magnetoception
.
How trees talk to each other: Suzanne Simard (video and text)
Can we provide plants with advance warning of impending dangers?
Imagine if
humans could 'talk' to plants
and pre-warn them of approaching pest attacks or extreme weather. Plant
scientists have engineered a light-controlled gene expression system (
optogenetics
system) from a prokaryotic system into a eukaryotic system that is
tailored for plants.
Hormonal
Sentience describes the information processing rate in plants, which
are mostly based on hormones instead of neurons like in all major animals
(except sponges). Plants can to some degree communicate with each other
and there are even examples of one-way-communication with animals.
Plants reveal Decision-Making Abilities under Competition. Plants can
choose between alternative competitive responses according to the stature
and densities of their opponents, biologists have discovered. A new study
reveals that plants can evaluate the competitive ability of their
neighbors and optimally match their responses to them.
Key role of plant-bacteria communication for the assembly of a healthy
plant microbiome supporting sustainable plant nutrition. In an
interdisciplinary study, researchers discovered that symbiotic bacteria
communicate with legume plants through specific molecules and that this
communication influences which bacteria grow near the plant roots. The
findings provide insights into how plants and soil bacteria form
beneficial partnerships for nutrient uptake and resilience. These results
are a step towards understanding how communication between plants and soil
bacteria can lead to specific beneficial associations providing plants
with nutrients.
Parasitic plants use stolen genes to make them better parasites. Some
parasitic plants steal genetic material from their host plants and use the
stolen genes to more effectively siphon off the host's nutrients. A new
study reveals that the parasitic plant dodder has stolen a large amount of
genetic material from its hosts, including over 100 functional genes,
through a process called
horizontal gene transfer, which is the movement of genetic material
between unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("
vertical")
transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). HGT is an important factor in the evolution of many
organisms.
Videos about Plants - The
Intelligence of Plants.
Mind of Plants : Documentary on The Intelligence of Plants (youtube)
Season 1 Episode 3 | Aired on 07/02/2010 | TV-G | 52:16.
Jonathan Drori: The Beautiful Tricks of Flowers (video)
Stefano Mancuso: The Roots of Plant Intelligence,
root brain theory (video)
Ameenah Gurib Fakim: Humble Plants that hide Surprising Secrets
The Secret Life Of Plants with Music by Stevie Wonder (youtube)
The Private
Life of Plants (video)
Roger
Roger - Rhapsody In Green I - Effluves Plant Music Sound Track
(youtube)
The Private Life of Plants with David Attenborough (vimeo)
The Beauty of Pollination - Moving Art
(youtube)
Thigmomorphogenesis is the response by
plants
to mechanical sensation (touch) by altering their growth patterns. In the
wild, these patterns can be evinced by wind, raindrops, and rubbing by
passing animals.
Evinced is to give
expression to. (communication).
Plant Behavior (neuro) -
International
Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology
Plant Molecular Biology -
Plant Cell
Cereals use chemical defenses in a multifunctional manner against
different herbivores. Plants rely on their toxins not only to fend off
caterpillars but also to regulate defense mechanisms against aphids.
Scientists have characterized multiple functions of benzoxazinoids in
wheat: The
toxic form of the substances makes the plant directly resistant to
lepidopteran larvae, whereas a less toxic form regulates indirect defense
mechanisms against aphids. The researchers identified the 'switch' between
these different functions as a methyltransferase enzyme, which is
activated by caterpillar feeding. This switch enables wheat plants to
adapt their defense response to different herbivores.
Heliotropism is the diurnal motion or seasonal motion of plant parts
(flowers or leaves) in response to the direction of the sun.
Why
sunflowers follow the sun (youtube).
Tropism
indicating growth or turning movement of a biological organism, usually a plant,
in response to an environmental stimulus.
Plant
Genetics is different from that of animals in a few ways.
Like mitochondria, chloroplasts have their own DNA, complicating pedigrees
somewhat. Like animals, plants have somatic mutations regularly, but these
mutations can contribute to the germ line with ease, since flowers develop
at the ends of branches composed of somatic cells. People have known of
this for centuries, and mutant branches are called "sports". If the fruit
on the sport is economically desirable, a new cultivar may be obtained.
Plant Genomes -
Bioinformatics for Plant Biotechnology
Reproduction (insects)
Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their
practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and
people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs
involving the practical uses of local flora for many aspects of life, such
as plants as medicines, foods, and clothing. Richard Evans Schultes, often
referred to as the "father of ethnobotany", explained the discipline in
this way: Ethnobotany simply means [...] investigating plants used by
primitive societies in various parts of the world.
Photosynthesis
(solar energy) -
Mushrooms (the fungus among us)
How a plant regulates its growth. Molecular mechanisms of polar growth
in plants. Plants grow in two directions: the shoots of plants grow toward
the light to make the best use of it, and the roots grow toward the center
of the earth into the soil. These growth processes are controlled by a
hormone called "
auxin,"
which plays a key role in the formation of polarity in plants. Naptalam
(NPA) is an important tool to elucidate the structure of the transporters.
Naptalam is the registered name of
Napthylphphthalic acid. It inhibits the directional flow of auxin,
thus severely inhibiting plant growth.
Theory suggests Root Efficiency, independence drove Global Spread of Flora.
Researchers suggest that plants spread worldwide thanks to root
adaptations that allowed them to become more efficient and independent. As
plant species spread, roots became thinner so they could more efficiently
explore poor soils for nutrients, and they shed their reliance on
symbiotic fungi. The researchers report that root diameter and reliance on
fungi most consistently characterize the plant communities across entire
biomes such as deserts, savannas and temperate forests.
Resurrection Plants -
Plants Living Dormant under the soil for
up to 20 years like Rip Van Winkle
Using eDNA
sequencing to survey pondweed diversity. Researchers have developed a
protocol using environmental DNA (eDNA) to identify aquatic plant
diversity, making ecological biodiversity surveys of these plant
communities faster and less expensive. Their study on pondweeds -- an
important bioindicator of aquatic ecosystem health -- allows researchers
to overcome difficulties in monitoring and identification, and draw
conclusions regarding plant diversity and water quality. eDNA is a rapidly
emerging technique, but its use in aquatic habitats has been understudied.
A warmer spring leads to less plant growth in summer.
Environmental DNA is
DNA that is
collected from a variety of environmental samples such as soil, seawater,
or even air rather than directly sampled from an individual organism. As
various organisms interact with the environment, DNA is expelled and
accumulates in their surroundings. Example sources of eDNA include, but
are not limited to, feces, mucus, gametes, shed skin, carcasses and hair.
Such samples can be analyzed by high-throughput
DNA sequencing methods,
known as
metagenomics, for rapid measurement and monitoring of biodiversity. In
order to better differentiate between organisms within a sample, DNA
metabarcoding is used in which the sample is analyzed and uses
previously studied DNA libraries to determine what organisms are present
(e.g. BLAST). The analysis of eDNA has great potential, not only for
monitoring common species, but to genetically detect and identify other
extant species that could influence conservation efforts. This method
allows for biomonitoring without requiring collection of the living
organism, creating the ability to study organisms that are invasive,
elusive, or endangered without introducing anthropogenic stress on the
organism. Access to this genetic information makes a critical contribution
to the understanding of population size, species distribution, and
population dynamics for species not well documented. The integrity of eDNA
samples is dependent upon its preservation within the environment. Soil,
permafrost, freshwater and seawater are well-studied macro environments
from which eDNA samples have been extracted, each of which include many
more conditioned subenvironments. Because of its versatility, eDNA is
applied in many subenvironments such as freshwater sampling, seawater
sampling, terrestrial soil sampling (tundra permafrost), aquatic soil
sampling (river, lake, pond, and ocean sediment), or other environments
where normal sampling procedures can become problematic.
Epicuticular Wax is a coating of wax covering the outer surface of the
plant cuticle in land plants. It may form a whitish film or bloom on
leaves, fruits and other plant organs. Chemically, it consists of
hydrophobic organic compounds, mainly straight-chain aliphatic
hydrocarbons with or without a variety of substituted functional groups.
The main functions of the epicuticular wax are to decrease surface wetting
and moisture loss. Other functions include reflection of ultraviolet
light, assisting in the formation of an
ultrahydrophobic and self-cleaning surface and acting as an anti-climb
surface.
Wax is a
diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids
near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids,
typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give
low viscosity liquids. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in
organic, nonpolar solvents. Natural waxes of different types are produced
by plants and animals and occur in petroleum.
Bees Wax.
Thousands of native plants are unphotographed, and
citizen scientists can help fill the gaps.
New research finds almost 4000 Australian plant species have not been
photographed before in the wild, which may lead to their extinction.
Scientists have documented plant species for centuries to help us
understand and protect the incredible diversity of flora in our world. But
according to new research, many have never actually been photographed in
their natural habitats -- and that's a problem.
Plants evolved complexity in two bursts -- with a 250-million-year hiatus.
A new method for quantifying plant evolution reveals that after the onset
of early seed plants,
complexity halted for
250 million years until the diversification of flowering plants about
100 million years ago. A Stanford-led study reveals that rather than
evolving gradually over hundreds of millions of years, land plants
underwent major diversification in two dramatic bursts, 250 million years
apart. The first occurred early in plant history, giving rise to the
development of seeds, and the second took place during the diversification
of flowering plants.
Flowers
Flower also known as a bloom or blossom, is the
reproductive structure found in flower plants, the division Magnoliophyta, also
called angiosperms. The flower structure contains the
plant's organs, and its
function is to produce seeds through reproduction. For the higher plants, seeds
are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals of
a species are dispersed across the landscape either by
pollination from insects,
birds, bats or the wind. After fertilization, portions of the flower develop
into a fruit containing the seeds. The grouping of flowers on a plant is called
the inflorescence. In addition to serving as the reproductive organs of
flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans, mainly to
beautify their environment but also as a source of food. Many flowers in
nature have evolved to attract animals to pollinate the flower, the movements of
the pollinating agent contributing to the opportunity for genetic recombination
within a dispersed plant population. Flowers that are insect-pollinated are
called entomophilous (literally "insect-loving"). Flowers commonly have glands
called nectaries on their various parts that attract these animals. Birds and
bees are common pollinators: both having color vision, thus opting for
"colorful" flowers. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that
show pollinators where to look for nectar; they may be visible to us or only
under ultraviolet light, which is visible to bees and some other insects.
Flowers also attract pollinators by scent. Many of their scents are pleasant
to our sense of smell, but not all. Some plants, such as Rafflesia, the titan
arum, and the North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba), are pollinated by flies,
so they produce a scent imitating rotting meat. Flowers pollinated by night
visitors such as bats or moths are especially likely to concentrate on scent
which can attract pollinators in the dark rather than color: Most such
flowers are white. (French flo(u)r) (Latin florem flos).
How important are Flowers?
Most of our Foods and Medicines are derived from Flowers.
Flower Photos.
The first evidence of a flower was found in a fossil,
named Archaefructus, believed to be
125 Million years old. Hengduan Mountain
Region in southwest China is believed to be the birthplace of all flowers.
Hengduan Mountain Region contains about 30,000 species of flowering plants and
ferns, compared to about 20,000 for all of North America north of Mexico.
Amborella trichopoda is believed to be the first flower based on DNA evidence.
Flowering plants are the most abundant and ecologically successful group of
plants on earth.
And ever since then, flowers
have been an essential part of our history, our spiritual growth and an
inspiration for millions. They have found a way into our hearts, by sight and
smell, giving enlightenment and self realization. So it is no surprise that
flowers are National Symbols, State Symbols and symbolic to many beliefs and
teachings around the world.
Rafflesia arnoldii (titan arum) is the world's largest flower at 3 feet across. Found in the Sumatra
and Borneo regions of Indonesia. Its odor has been described as similar to
rotting flesh.
New flower from 100 million years ago from the mid-Cretaceous period
frozen in time by Burmese amber. The male flower is tiny, about 2
millimeters across, but it has some 50 stamens arranged like a spiral,
with anthers pointing toward the sky.
Flowering plants survived the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs.
New study tracks how 'flower power' survived mass extinction 66 million
years ago to become the dominant plant type. The
Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event
eradicated at least 75% of all species on Earth including the dinosaurs,
but until now it's been unclear what impact it had on flowering plants.
Whilst the fossil record shows that many species did disappear, the
lineages to which they belong, such as families and orders, survived
enough to flourish and then dominate -- out of around 400,000 plant
species living today, approximately 300,000 of these are flowering plants.
Molecular clock evidence suggests that the vast majority of angiosperm
families around today existed before the K-Pg event: species including the
ancestors of orchids, magnolia and mint all shared Earth with the
dinosaurs.
Another large flower is the rare and threatened
Amorphophallus
titanum plant that grows an incredible 6 to 7 inches a day & also emits a strong
odor, thus the name '
corpse flower'. Wolffia flower is the worlds smallest flower which floats on the surface of quiet streams and ponds. The
entire plant, flower and all, is less than a millimeter long. A bouquet of a
dozen could fit on the head of a pin
These are just some of the things that I have learned about flowers, and all because of that one day in the
spring of 2004, I decided to take a
super macro close up of a flower, and after
viewing it on my computer screen I realized I have been over looking one of the
most fascinating things this world has ever created, flowers.
There are about 300,000 plant
species on Earth. Plants are the only life forms that can produce their own food
using energy from sunlight. Plants produce almost all of the oxygen in the air
that humans and other animals breathe. Plants are also an important source of
food, building materials, and other resources that make life possible for
Earth’s animals.
Stoma
is a pore, found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that
is used to control gas exchange.
"Find the seed at the bottom
of your heart and bring forth a flower." - (
Shigenori Kameoka)
"All plants are our brothers
and sisters. "
"They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them." (
Arapaho)
"If one really loves nature,
one can find beauty everywhere." (
Vincent
van Gogh)
"The best and most beautiful
things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched but are felt in the heart."
(
Helen
Keller)
South Africa’s Cape Floral Region is home to the world's smallest
floristic kingdom (there are six in total), which includes the unique
Fynbos Biome, and supports nearly 9,000 species of plants, of which around
69% are endemic.
Fires are becoming more frequent and intense since the 1990s, but
requires a longer view to look for possible natural cycles and vegetation
responses to these, and also at the evolution of scientific and popular
understanding of fire.
Biological Systems
is a significant task of systems biology and mathematical biology.[a]
Computational systems biology[b] aims to develop and use efficient
algorithms, data structures, visualization and communication tools with
the goal of computer modelling of
biological systems. It involves the use
of computer simulations of biological systems, including cellular
subsystems (such as the networks of metabolites and enzymes which comprise
metabolism, signal transduction pathways and gene regulatory networks), to
both analyze and visualize the complex connections of these cellular
processes. Artificial life or virtual evolution attempts to understand
evolutionary processes via the computer simulation of simple (artificial)
life forms.
Plants evolved complexity in two bursts -- with a 250-million-year hiatus.
A new method for quantifying plant evolution reveals that after the onset
of early seed plants, complexity halted for 250 million years until the
diversification of flowering plants about 100 million years ago. Flowers
are more diverse than every other group of plants, producing colors,
smells and shapes that nourish animals and delight the senses. They are
also intricate: petals, anthers and pistils interweave in precise
arrangements to lure pollinators and trick them into spreading pollen from
one flower to another. When land plants first diversified in the early
Devonian about 420 million to 360 million years ago, Earth was a warmer
world devoid of trees or terrestrial vertebrate animals. Arachnids like
scorpions and mites roamed the land amongst short, patchy plants and the
tallest land organism was a 20-foot fungus resembling a tree trunk. After
the Devonian, huge changes occurred in the animal kingdom: Land animals
evolved to have large body sizes and more varied diets, insects
diversified, dinosaurs appeared -- but plants didn't see a major change in
reproductive complexity until they developed flowers. Insect pollination
and animal seed dispersal may have appeared as early as 300 million years
ago, but it's not until the last 100 million years that these really
intricate interactions with pollinators are driving this super high
complexity in flowering plants.
Trees
(planting)
Plant Identifier
Phone App -
Wild Edible Plant Identifier App
Foraging -
Edible
Landscapes
Plant Pathology (diseases of plants)
Logarithmic Spiral
is a self-similar
spiral curve which
often appears in nature. The logarithmic spiral was first described by
Descartes and later extensively investigated by Jacob Bernoulli, who
called it Spira mirabilis, "the marvelous spiral".
Self-Assembly -
Self Organizing
Li is a concept found in Neo-Confucian Chinese
philosophy. It refers to the underlying reason and order of nature as
reflected in its organic forms.
Hydra is a genus of small, fresh-water animals of the phylum
Cnidaria and class Hydrozoa. They are native to the temperate and tropical
regions. Biologists are especially interested in Hydra because of their
regenerative ability – they appear not to age or die of old age.
Biology.
Information on Plant Protection Products
Thriving Bottle
Garden Hasn't Been Watered in Over 40 Years (youtube)
Summer Rayne Oaks
keeps over 500 plants with 150 Types alive inside of her Williamsburg
1,200 foot Apartment (youtube)
The Animal
That Wouldn't Die (w/Robert Krulwich) (youtube)
Environmental Preservation Ideas
(earth protectors)
Forest Garden -
Permaculture -
Indoor Plants
Environmental Awareness Books
Hardiness Zone is a geographically defined area in which a specific
category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic
conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of
the zone (see the scale on the right or the table below). For example, a
plant that is described as "hardy to zone 10" means that the plant can
withstand a minimum temperature of -1°C (30.2°F) to 3.9°C (39.0°F). First
developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a rough
guide to landscaping and gardening, the use of the zones has been adopted
by other countries.
Royal Botanic Garden there
are 391,000 vascular plant species known to science, with an
average of 2,000 new ones being discovered and named each year.
21 percent of global plant species are currently threatened with extinction.
Air - Gas Molecules that Plants and Animals Breathe
Air in earths
atmosphere is a
mixture of 21%
oxygen, 78%
nitrogen, and approximately 1% other trace
gases, primarily
argon,
which is a
noble gas and the
third-most abundant gas in the
earths
atmosphere and more than twice as abundant as
water
vapor, which is lighter than air and triggers
convection currents that can lead to
clouds.
Meteorology is the study of the
atmosphere.
Air Quality Report
-
Pollution.
Biosphere
is the global sum of all
ecosystems.
Biosphere 2 -
CO2.
Noosphere is the sphere of
human thought.
Weather is the state of the
atmosphere, to the degree
that it is hot or cold,
wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most
weather phenomena occur in the
troposphere,
just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature and
precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the statistics of
atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without
qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of
Earth.
Weather
Forecasting.
Hydrochlorofluorocarbon is an organic compound that
contains only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as volatile
derivative of methane, ethane, and propane.
Climate -
Climate Change -
Monitors -
Indoor
Air Assessment -
Breathing
Physical Geography
is one of the two major sub-fields of geography. Physical geography is
that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and
patterns in the natural environment like the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere,
and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain
of human geography.
Art made of the Air we Breathe: Emily Parsons-Lord (video and
interactive text)
Air is the combination of the
invisible gases that
envelop the Earth, attracted by the Earth's gravitational pull. That air
that you just
exhaled, you enriched a hundred times in
carbon dioxide. So
roughly five liters of air per
breath,
17 breaths
per minute of the 525,600 minutes per year, comes to approximately
45 million liters of air, enriched 100 times in carbon dioxide, just for
you. Now, that's equivalent to about 18 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Carboniferous air. It's from about
300 to 350 million years ago. It's
an era known as the time of the giants. So for the first time in the
history of life, lignin evolves. That's the hard stuff that trees are
made of. So trees effectively invent their own trunks at this time, and
they get really big, bigger and bigger, and pepper the Earth, releasing
oxygen, releasing oxygen, releasing oxygen, such that the oxygen levels
are about twice as high as what they are today. And this rich air supports
massive insects -- huge spiders and dragonflies with a wingspan of about
65 centimeters. To breathe, this air is really clean and really fresh. It
doesn't so much have a flavor, but it does give your body a really subtle
kind of boost of energy. It's really good for hangovers.
The
average adult, when resting,
inhales and exhales about 7 or 8 liters of
air per minute. That totals about 11,000 liters of air per day. Inhaled
air is about 20-percent oxygen. Exhaled air is about 15-percent oxygen.
70% of the oxygen in the atmosphere is produced by
marine plants.
When you
blow a
bubble, the air in the
bubble has 4% to 5% by volume more carbon
dioxide and 4% to 5% by volume less oxygen than was inhaled. Your exhaled
air is typically composed of: 78.04% nitrogen. 13.6% – 16% oxygen.
Plants that Purify Indoor Air
Breathing Gas is a mixture of
gaseous chemical elements and compounds
used for
respiration. Air is the most common, and only natural, breathing
gas - but a range of pure gases or mixtures of gases are used in breathing
equipment and enclosed habitats such as scuba equipment, surface supplied
diving equipment, recompression chambers, submarines, space suits,
spacecraft, medical life support and first aid equipment, high-altitude
mountaineering and anaesthetic machines.
Oxygen
is the essential component for any
breathing gas, at a partial pressure of
between roughly 0.16 and 1.60 bar at the
ambient pressure. The oxygen is usually the only metabolically active
component unless the gas is an anaesthetic mixture. Some of the oxygen in
the breathing gas is consumed by the metabolic processes, and the inert
components are unchanged, and serve mainly to dilute the oxygen to an
appropriate concentration, and are therefore also known as diluent gases.
Most breathing gases therefore are a mixture of oxygen and one or more
inert gases. Other breathing gases have been developed to improve on the
performance of ordinary air by reducing the risk of decompression
sickness, reducing the duration of decompression stops, reducing nitrogen
narcosis or allowing safer deep diving.
A safe
breathing gas for hyperbaric use has three essential features: it
must contain sufficient oxygen to support life, consciousness and work
rate of the breather. It must not contain harmful gases. Carbon monoxide
and
carbon dioxide are common poisons which
may contaminate
breathing gases. There are many other possibilities. It
must not become toxic when being breathed at high pressure such as when
underwater.
Oxygen and nitrogen are examples of gases that become toxic
under pressure. The techniques used to fill
Diving Cylinders
with gases other than air are called gas blending. Breathing gases for use
at ambient pressures below normal atmospheric pressure are usually air
enriched with oxygen to provide sufficient oxygen to maintain life and
consciousness, or to allow higher levels of exertion than would be
possible using air. It is common to provide the additional oxygen as a
pure gas added to the breathing air at inhalation, or though a
life-support system.
Choking
-
Not Breathing -
Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
Nitrox
refers to any gas mixture composed (excepting trace gases) of nitrogen and
oxygen. This includes atmospheric air, which is approximately 78%
nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, primarily argon.
Rebreather is a
breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of
a user's exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the
substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when
present, of each breath. Oxygen is added to replenish the amount metabolised by the user. This differs from an open-circuit breathing
apparatus, where the exhaled gas is discharged directly into the
environment. As a person breathes, the body consumes oxygen and produces
carbon dioxide. Base metabolism requires about 0.25 L/min of oxygen from a
breathing rate of about 6 L/min, and a fit person working hard may
ventilate at a rate of 95 L/min but will only metabolise about 4 L/min of
oxygen The oxygen metabolised is generally about 4% to 5% of the inspired
volume at normal atmospheric pressure, or about 20% of the available
oxygen in sea level air. Exhaled air at sea level still contains roughly
16% oxygen.
Even a small buildup of CO2 in
the inhaled gas quickly becomes intolerable; if a person tries to directly
rebreathe their exhaled breathing gas, they will soon
feel an acute sense
of suffocation, therefore rebreathers must chemically remove the
CO2 in a
component known as a carbon dioxide scrubber.
Scuba
Set is any
breathing
apparatus that is carried entirely by an underwater diver and provides
the diver with breathing gas at the ambient pressure. Scuba is an
anacronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Although
strictly speaking the scuba set is only the diving equipment which is
required for providing breathing gas to the diver, general usage includes
the harness by which it is carried, and those accessories which are
integral parts of the harness and breathing apparatus assembly, such as a
jacket or wing style buoyancy compensator and instruments mounted in a
combined housing with the pressure gauge, and in the looser sense it has
been used to refer to any diving equipment used by the scuba diver, though
this would more commonly and accurately be termed scuba equipment or scuba
gear. Scuba is overwhelmingly the most common underwater breathing system
used by recreational divers and is also used in professional diving when
it provides advantages, usually of mobility and range, over surface
supplied diving systems, and is allowed by the relevant code of practice.
Two basic functional systems of scuba are in general use:
open-circuit-demand, and rebreather. In open-circuit demand scuba, the
diver expels exhaled air to the environment, and requires each breath be
delivered on demand by a diving regulator, which reduces the pressure from
the storage cylinder. The breathing air is supplied through a demand valve
when the diver reduces the pressure in the demand valve during inhalation.
In rebreather scuba, the system recycles the exhaled gas, removes carbon
dioxide, and compensates for the used oxygen before the diver is supplied
with gas from the breathing circuit. The amount of gas lost from the
circuit during each breathing cycle depends on the design of the
rebreather and depth change during the breathing cycle. Gas in the
breathing circuit is at ambient pressure, and stored gas is provided
through regulators or injectors, depending on design. Within these
systems, various mounting configurations may be used to carry the scuba
set, depending on application and preference. These include back mount,
which is generally used for recreational scuba and for bailout sets for
surface supplied diving, side-mount, which is popular for tight cave
penetrations, sling mount, used for stage-drop sets, decompression gas and
bailout sets where the main gas supply is back mounted, and various
non-standard carry systems for special circumstances. The most immediate
risk associated with scuba diving is drowning due to a failure of the
breathing gas supply. This may be managed by diligent monitoring of
remaining gas, adequate planning and provision of an emergency gas supply
carried by the diver in a bailout cylinder or supplied by the diver's
buddy.
Decompression is the reduction in
air
pressure or the reduction in
pressure, and the
process of allowing dissolved inert gases to be eliminated from the
tissues during ascent from a dive.
Decompression Sickness or
The Bends, is
a medical condition caused by
dissolved gases
emerging from solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during
decompression. DCS most commonly occurs during or soon after a
decompression ascent from underwater diving, but can also result from
other causes of depressurisation, such as emerging from a caisson,
decompression from saturation, flying in an unpressurised aircraft at high
altitude, and extravehicular activity from spacecraft. DCS and arterial
gas embolism are collectively referred to as decompression illness.
(abbreviated DCS; also called divers' disease, aerobullosis, and caisson
disease).
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
- Pneumomediastinum
- Carbonation -
Bear Head -
Bubbles -
Breathing Exercises
Brain Bubbles. Researchers describe the dynamics of cavitation in soft
porous material. During head impacts
and concussions, vapor bubbles form and
violently collapse, creating damage to human tissue.
Fluid mechanics researchers are now
one step closer to understanding these phenomena.
Venous Air Embolism or pulmonary air embolism occurs when air enters
the systemic venous circulation and travels to the right ventricle and
pulmonary circulation. Gas embolism is a blood vessel blockage caused by
one or more bubbles of air or other gas in the circulatory system. Air can
be introduced into the circulation during surgical procedures, lung
over-expansion injury, decompression, and a few other causes. In flora,
air embolisms may also occur in the xylem of vascular plants, especially
when suffering from water stress.
Embolism is an
obstruction of an artery, typically by a clot of blood or an air bubble.
How fish survive the extreme pressures of life in the oceans. A
chemical in the cells of marine organisms enables them to survive the high
pressures found in the deep oceans. The molecule found in cells that
produces the protective effect against high external pressure is called
TMAO -- trimethylamine N-oxide. Studies have shown that the amount of TMAO
in ocean-dwelling organisms increases in line with the depth of their
habitat.
Saturation Diving is diving for periods long enough to bring all
tissues into equilibrium with the partial pressures of the inert
components of the
breathing gas used. It is a diving
mode that reduces the number of decompressions divers working at great
depths must undergo by only decompressing divers once at the end of the
diving operation, which may last days to weeks, having them remain under
pressure for the whole period. A diver breathing
pressurized gas accumulates dissolved inert gas used in the breathing
mixture to dilute the oxygen to a non-toxic level in their tissues, which
can cause decompression sickness ("the bends") if permitted to come out of
solution within the body tissues; hence, returning to the surface safely
requires lengthy decompression so that the inert gases can be eliminated
via the lungs. Once the dissolved gases in a diver's tissues reach the
saturation point, however, decompression time does not increase with
further exposure, as no more inert gas is accumulated. Saturation diving
takes advantage of this by having divers remain in that saturated state.
When not in the water, the divers live in a sealed environment which
maintains their pressurised state; this can be an ambient pressure
underwater habitat or a saturation system at the surface, with transfer to
and from the pressurised living quarters to the equivalent depth
underwater via a closed, pressurised diving bell. This may be maintained
for up to several weeks, and divers are decompressed to surface pressure
only once, at the end of their tour of duty. By limiting the number of
decompressions in this way, and using a conservative decompression
schedule the risk of decompression sickness is significantly reduced, and
the total time spent decompressing is minimised. Saturation divers
typically breathe a helium–oxygen mixture to prevent nitrogen narcosis,
and limit work of breathing but at shallow depths saturation diving has
been done on nitrox mixtures. Most of the physiological and medical
aspects of diving to the same depths are much the same in saturation and
bell-bounce ambient pressure diving, or are less of a problem, but there
are medical and psychological effects of living under saturation for
extended periods. Saturation diving is a specialized form of diving; of
the 3,300 commercial divers employed in the United States in 2015, 336
were saturation divers. Special training and certification is required, as
the activity is inherently hazardous, and a set of standard operating
procedures, emergency procedures, and a range of specialised equipment is
used to control the risk, that require consistently correct performance by
all the members of an extended diving team. The combination of relatively
large skilled personnel requirements, complex engineering, and bulky,
heavy equipment required to support a saturation diving project make it an
expensive diving mode, but it allows direct human intervention at places
that would not otherwise be practicable, and where it is applied, it is
generally more economically viable than other options, if such exist.
Naturalist Intelligence - Nature Smart
Nature Smart is the ability to
recognize,
categorize and draw upon
certain features of the
environment in order to make accurate
decisions, and to be
aware of any
changes that might affect
future decisions.
Naturalist is an
advocate of
realism, and that the world can be best understood in
scientific terms. A naturalist is also a
biologist who is knowledgeable about
natural history, especially
botany and
zoology.
Life
Sciences comprises of the fields of
science that involve the
scientific study of living organisms – such as microorganisms, plants,
animals, and human beings – as well as related considerations like
bioethics.
Environmental Science
-
Outdoor Learning -
Restoration
Natural
Science is a branch of
science concerned with the
description, prediction, and
understanding of natural phenomena, based on
observational and
empirical evidence.
Habitat
Destruction.
Naturalism
or
natural laws are the
rules that govern the
structure and behavior of the natural universe, that the changing
universe at every stage is a product of these laws.
Physical
Science is a branch of natural
Science
that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn
has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together
called the "physical sciences". However, the term "physical" creates an
unintended, somewhat arbitrary distinction, since many branches of
physical science also study biological phenomena and branches of chemistry
such as organic chemistry.
Outline of Earth Science
(PDF) -
Environmental Education
Naturalism Literature is a literary movement that emphasizes
observation and the scientific method in the fictional portrayal of
reality.
Life -
Awareness
-
Purist -
Health Benefits from being Outdoors in a
Natural Environment.
Physical Law is conclusions based on
repeated
scientific experiments and observations over many years and which have
become accepted universally within the scientific community. The
production of a summary description of our environment in the form of such
laws is a fundamental aim of science. These terms are not used the same
way by all authors.
Sustainability Science -
Sustainable Development -
Limits to Growth -
Green Building -
Is the Eco-System our Teacher? -
Waste to Energy -
Earth Protectors
(organizations) -
Recycling.
Bio-Based Economy refers to all economic activity derived
from scientific and research activity focused on biotechnology. In other
words, understanding mechanisms and processes at the genetic and molecular
levels and applying this understanding to creating or improving industrial
processes.
Emergence
is a process whereby larger entities, patterns, and regularities arise
through interactions among smaller or simpler entities that themselves do
not exhibit such properties.
Natural Capital is the world's stock of natural resources,
which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms.
Natural capital assets provide people with a wide range of free goods and
services, often called ecosystem services, which underpin our economy and
society and some of which even make human life possible.
Natural Law.
Systems Science studies the nature of systems—from simple to
complex—in nature, society, and science itself.
Physiology is the scientific study of the normal function in
living systems.
Outdoor Courses, Wilderness Schools, Experiential Education.
Survival Tips
-
Survival Information
Foraging
for Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants.
Hunter Gatherer -
Natural
Medicine
Homogeneity relates to the
uniformity in a substance or
organism.
Alchemy is to purify, mature and perfect certain objects.
Metamorphism.
Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of
biological systems such as humans, animals, plants, organs, fungi, and
cells by means of the methods of mechanics.
Instituto Terra
-
Global Green Carbon
Paleobotany is the branch of paleontology or paleobiology
dealing with the recovery and identification of
plant remains from
geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of
past environments (paleogeography), and both the evolutionary history of
plants, with a bearing upon the evolution of life in general.
Anthropology (Humans) -
Culture -
Evolution
Paleoethnobotany is the study of remains of
plants
cultivated or used by man in
ancient times, which have survived in
archaeological contexts. Paleoethnobotany is the archaeological sub-field
that studies plant remains from
archaeological sites. Basing on the
recovery and identification of plant remains and the ecological and
cultural information available for modern plants, the major research
themes are the use of wild plants, the origins of agriculture and
domestication, and the co-evolution of human-plant interactions.
Paleoclimatology is the study of
changes in climate taken on
the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses a variety of proxy
methods from the Earth and life sciences to obtain data previously
preserved within things such as rocks, sediments, ice sheets, tree rings,
corals, shells and microfossils. It then uses the records to determine the
past states of the Earth's various climate regions and its atmospheric
system. Studies of past changes in the environment and biodiversity often
reflect on the current situation, specifically the impact of climate on
mass extinctions and biotic recovery.
Environmental Monitoring
Systematics is the study of the diversification of living
forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things
through time.
Cultural Knowledge
Environmental
Stewardship refers to responsible use and
protection of the
natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. Aldo
Leopold (1887–1949) championed environmental stewardship based on a land
ethic "dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants
which grow upon it.
Environmental
Knowledge
Study shows some Biodiversity Losses can be Reversed.
Green
Festivals
Farming
-
Agro Ecology is the study of ecological processes that
operate in
agricultural production systems.
Agriculture (Farming) -
Everything about Farming -
Forest Gardens -
Organic Farmer -
Sustainable Farming -
Nutrition -
Food Safety -
Food Photos -
Water -
Fungi (mushrooms) -
Bio-Mimicry -
Biology
"
It's not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent,
but the one most
adaptable to change."
Charles Darwin.
About the quote above: Charles
was assuming that there was intelligence and that it was not
intelligent enough to adapt, then I guess it was not so
intelligent after all? If you are not intelligent enough to
adapt, then your not
intelligent, just like we are
now. So maybe Charles is just mocking our perceived intelligence, which
doesn't really matter because the message still stands true, you have to
adapt, if not, you die.
Harmony.
"Don't shit where you eat, and Don't shit
where you drink"..meaning, be extremely careful with
sanitation, poor
sanitation kills thousands everyday.
Green Schools - Environmental Education - Clean Technology Schools
Sustainability Studies Programs
include instruction in
sustainable development, geography, environmental
policies, ethics, ecology,
landscape architecture, city and regional
planning,
economics, natural resources, sociology, and anthropology.
Damage.
Sustainability Management -
Arborist (trees)
Habitat Destruction -
Geo-Engineering
Environmental Engineering
is the branch of
engineering concerned with the application of scientific
and engineering principles for protection of human populations from the
effects of adverse environmental factors; protection of environments, both
local and global, from the potentially deleterious effects of natural and
human activities; and improvement of environmental quality.
Ecological Engineering is an emerging study of integrating
ecology and
engineering, concerned with the design, monitoring, and construction
of ecosystems. According to Mitsch (1996) "the design of sustainable
ecosystems intends to integrate human society with its natural environment
for the benefit of both".
Biological Engineering is the application of concepts and methods of
biology (and secondarily of
physics,
chemistry,
mathematics, and
computer
science) to solve real-world problems related to
life sciences or the application thereof,
using engineering's own analytical and synthetic methodologies and also
its traditional sensitivity to the cost and practicality of the
solution(s) arrived at. In this context, while traditional
engineering applies physical and
mathematical sciences to analyze, design and manufacture inanimate tools,
structures and processes, biological engineering uses primarily the
rapidly developing body of knowledge known as molecular biology to study
and advance applications of organisms and to create biotechnology.
Environmental Impact Assessment is the assessment of the
environmental consequences of a plan, policy,
program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the
proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental impact
assessment" or EIA is usually used when applied to actual
projects by
individuals or companies and the term "strategic environmental assessment"
applies to policies, plans and programmes most often proposed by organs of
state. It is a tool of environmental management forming a part of project
approval and decision-making. Environmental
assessments may be governed by
rules of administrative procedure regarding public participation and
documentation of decision making, and may be subject to judicial review.
The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider
the environmental impacts when deciding whether or not to proceed with a
project. The International Association for Impact Assessment or IAIA
defines an environmental impact assessment as "the process of identifying,
predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other
relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being
taken and commitments made". EIAs are unique in that they do not require
adherence to a predetermined environmental outcome, but rather they
require
decision makers to account for environmental values in their
decisions and to justify those
decisions in light of detailed
environmental studies and public comments on the potential environmental
impacts.
Proposal.
Strategic Environmental Assessment is a systematic decision support
process, aiming to ensure that
environmental and
possibly other sustainability aspects are considered effectively in
policy, plan and program making. In this context, following Fischer in
2007,
SEA may be seen as: A structured, rigorous,
participative, open and
transparent environmental impact assessment based
process, applied particularly to plans and programmes, prepared by
public
planning authorities and at times private bodies. A participative, open
and transparent, possibly non-EIA-based process, applied in a more
flexible manner to policies, prepared by public planning authorities and
at times private bodies. A flexible non-EIA based process, applied to
legislative proposals and other policies, plans and programmes in
political/cabinet decision-making. Effective SEA works within a structured
and tiered decision framework, aiming to support more effective and
efficient decision-making for
sustainable development and improved
governance by providing for a substantive focus regarding questions,
issues and alternatives to be considered in policy, plan and programme
(PPP) making. SEA is an
evidence-based instrument, aiming to add
scientific rigour to PPP making, by using suitable assessment methods and
techniques. Ahmed and Sanchez Triana in 2008 developed an approach to the
design and implementation of public policies that follows a continuous
process rather than as a discrete
intervention.
Feasibility Study is an
assessment of the practicality of a
proposed
project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally
uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed
venture, opportunities and threats present in the natural environment, the
resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for
success. In its simplest terms, the two criteria to judge feasibility are
cost required and value to be attained. A well-designed feasibility study
should provide a historical background of the business or project, a
description of the product or service, accounting statements, details of
the operations and management, marketing research and policies, financial
data, legal requirements and tax obligations. Generally, feasibility
studies precede technical development and
project implementation. A
feasibility study evaluates the project's potential for success;
therefore, perceived objectivity is an important factor in the credibility
of the study for potential investors and lending institutions. It must
therefore be conducted with an objective, unbiased approach to provide
information upon which decisions can be based.
Environmental Issues are
harmful effects of
human activity on the biophysical environment. Environmental protection is
a practice of protecting the
natural environment on the individual,
organizational or governmental levels, for the benefit of both the
environment and humans. Environmentalism, a social and environmental
movement, addresses environmental issues through
advocacy, education and
activism.
Environmental Studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which
systematically studies human interaction with the
environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the
physical sciences, commerce/economics, the
humanities, and social sciences
to address complex contemporary environmental issues. It is a broad field
of study that includes the natural environment, the
built environment, and
the relationship between them. The field encompasses study in basic
principles of
ecology and environmental science, as well as associated
subjects such as
ethics, geography, anthropology, policy, education,
politics,
urban planning, law, economics, philosophy, sociology and social
justice,
planning, pollution control and natural resource management.
There are many Environmental Studies degree programs, including a Master's
degree and a Bachelor's degree. Environmental Studies degree programs
provide a wide range of skills and analytical tools needed to face the
environmental issues of our world head on. Students in
Environmental Studies gain the intellectual and
methodological tools to understand and address the crucial environmental
issues of our time and the impact of individuals, society, and the planet.
Environmental Management System is a system and
database which
integrates
procedures and processes for training of personnel,
monitoring, summarizing, and
reporting of specialized
environmental performance information to internal and external
stakeholders of a firm.
Geophysics is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical
processes and physical properties of the
Earth
and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods
for their analysis. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to solid
earth applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields;
its internal structure and composition; its dynamics and their surface
expression in plate tectonics, the generation of magmas, volcanism and
rock formation. However, modern geophysics organizations and pure
scientists use a broader definition that includes the water cycle
including snow and ice; fluid dynamics of the oceans and the atmosphere;
electricity and magnetism in the ionosphere and magnetosphere and
solar-terrestrial physics; and analogous problems associated with the Moon
and other planets. Although geophysics was only recognized as a separate
discipline in the 19th century, its origins date back to ancient times.
The first magnetic compasses were made from lodestones, while more modern
magnetic compasses played an important role in the history of navigation.
The first seismic instrument was built in 132 AD. Isaac Newton applied his
theory of mechanics to the tides and the precession of the equinox; and
instruments were developed to measure the Earth's shape, density and
gravity field, as well as the components of the water cycle. In the 20th
century, geophysical methods were developed for remote exploration of the
solid Earth and the ocean, and geophysics played an essential role in the
development of the theory of plate tectonics. Geophysics is applied to
societal needs, such as mineral resources, mitigation of natural hazards
and environmental protection. In exploration geophysics, geophysical
survey data are used to analyze potential petroleum reservoirs and mineral
deposits, locate groundwater, find archaeological relics, determine the
thickness of glaciers and soils, and assess sites for environmental
remediation.
Clean Technology includes recycling,
renewable energy (wind
power,
solar power, biomass, hydropower, biofuels, etc.), information
technology,
green transportation, electric motors,
green chemistry,
lighting, Greywater, and many other
appliances that are now more energy
efficient. It is a means to create electricity and fuels, with a smaller
environmental footprint and minimize
pollution.
Ethnobotany
is
the scientific study of the
relationships that exist between
peoples and
plants.
Experiential Education is the process that occurs between a
teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning
environment and content. The term is not interchangeable with
experiential learning; however
experiential learning is a sub-field and operates under the methodologies
of
experiential education.
Brower Youth
Awards recognizes the work of six young leaders who are making strides
in the environmental movement.
Biology.
Environmental Education
refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function,
and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and
ecosystems to
live
sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disciplines
such as biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, earth science,
atmospheric
science, mathematics, and
geography.
Environmental
Education -
Environmental
Education -
Environmental
Education
Teleology is the
study of nature by attempting to describe
things in terms of their apparent purpose, directive principle, or goal.
Progressive Education
-
Learning by Doing -
Problem Solving -
21st Century Skills
-
Service Learning
Outdoor
Education refers to organized learning that takes place in
the outdoors.
Outdoor
education programs sometimes involve residential or journey
wilderness-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of
adventurous challenges and
outdoor
activities such as hiking, climbing, canoeing, ropes courses and
group games.
Project Learning
Tree
Eco-School
Greene
SchoolGreen Charter
School
Green
Education
The Holistic
Life Foundation
Whole Earth
Tree People
Eco-Technics
Children of the Earth
Environmental Education
Eco-Trust
Eco
Literacy
Good
Clean Tech
Eco-Tech Institute
Earth
Adventure
Environmental
OutreachGreen Mountain
College
Green
StudentEco-Schools
World Watch
Institute
College of Agricultural Engineering was opened in 1962. It
was closed as a separate entity at the end of 2007 and the land sold for
housing.
Environmental Integrity Project
Singularity
UniversityDevelopment
Alternatives
Natural
Step
The
Green Workplace
Green Careers
Action Competence
Green Jobs
Bioneers
Conference
Global Community
Earth Protection
Organizations
Environmental Crime -
Cynicism virtue is the only good and that
the essence of
virtue is
self-control.
Outdoor Schools -
Adventurer Schools -
Survival Books and Info -
Foraging Wild Foods -
Outdoor Gear Check List and Camping List -
Recommended Gear -
Backpacking Tips.
Learning Outside the Classroom
"Support wildlife, throw a party."
"Nature teaches beasts to know their friends". - (Act II, Scene I).
Coriolanus 1607.
Deep Ecology is an ecological and environmental philosophy promoting
the
inherent worth of living beings regardless of their instrumental
utility to human needs, plus a radical restructuring of modern human
societies in accordance with such ideas. Deep ecology argues that
the natural world is a subtle balance of complex
inter-relationships in which the existence of organisms is dependent on
the existence of others within
ecosystems. Human
interference with or destruction of the natural world poses a threat
therefore not only to humans but to all organisms constituting the natural
order.
Biodiversity Falls Below ‘Safe Levels’ Globally.
Biodiversity refers to the
variety and variability of life on Earth. One of the most widely used definitions defines it in terms of
the variability within species, between species and between
ecosystems. It
is a measure of the
variety of organisms present in different
ecosystems.
This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species
variation (number of species) within an area,
biome, or planet.
Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near the equator, which seems
to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity.
Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is richest in the
tropics. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the
Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest and in the
mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in
species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots,
and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the
future. The number and variety of plants, animals and other organisms that
exist is known as biodiversity. It is an essential component of nature and
it ensures the survival of human species by
providing food, fuel, shelter,
medicines and other resources to mankind. The richness of biodiversity
depends on the climatic conditions and area of the region. All species of
plants taken together are known as flora and about 300,000 species of
plants are known to date. All species of animals taken together are known
as fauna which includes birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects,
crustaceans, molluscs, etc..
Living Planet
Index is an indicator of the state of global biological diversity,
based on trends in vertebrate populations of species from around the
world. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) manages the index in
cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) a.k.a. the World
Wildlife Federation. As of 2018, the index is statistically created from
journal studies, online databases and government reports for 16,704
populations of 4,005 species of mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish,
or approximately six percent of the world's vertebrate species.
American Society of Plant
Biologists.
Biology -
Balance -
Risk Assessments
Biodiversity Hotspot is a biogeographic region with
significant levels of
biodiversity that is under threat from humans.
Wildlife in tropics hardest hit by forests being broken up. Tropical
species are six times more sensitive to forests being broken up for
logging or farming than temperate species, says new research.
Hotspot Maps -
Extinctions
Loss of Species Destroys Ecosystems. Better ecosystem services through
biodiversity. High-diversity areas achieved better carbon storage. The
number of insects and other species was significantly higher.
Reciprocal
interactions between species such as pollination took place more
frequently. Higher-diversity meadows transported surface water into the
soil better. High-diversity ecosystems were more stable in the case of
disruptions such as droughts or floods than low-diversity ecosystems.
Ecological Threshold is the point at which a relatively small change
or disturbance in external conditions causes a rapid change in an
ecosystem. When an ecological threshold has been passed, the
ecosystem may no longer be able to return to its
state by means of its inherent resilience. Crossing an ecological
threshold often leads to rapid change of ecosystem health. Ecological
threshold represent a non-linearity of the responses in ecological or
biological systems to pressures caused by human activities or natural
processes. Critical load, tipping point and regime shift are examples of
other closely related terms.
Tipping Point.
Environmental Gradient is a gradual change in abiotic factors through
space (or time). Environmental gradients can be related to factors such as
altitude, temperature, depth, ocean proximity and soil humidity. Species
abundances usually change along environmental gradients in a more or less
predictive way. However, the species abundance along an environmental
gradient is not only determined by the abiotic factor but, also by the
change in the biotic interactions, like competition, along the
environmental gradient. At an ecotone, species abundances change
relatively quickly compared to the environmental gradient. The species
distribution along environmental gradients has been studied intensively
due to large databases of species presence data (e.g. GBIF). Environmental
Gradients are linked to Connectivity and natural disturbance when
considering river systems. A river restoration scheme must consider all of
these factors before undertaking a program as these three factors are what
leads to a larger biodiversity. Each species are not found in every type
of habitat or in every part of the world. Within the environment there are
multiple factors which affects organisms. The organisms in the polar
region can not survive the climate at the equator.
Nature is Everywhere we just need to Learn to see it: Emma Marris (video and interactive text)
Regime Shift are large, abrupt, persistent changes in the structure
and function of a system. A regime is a characteristic behaviour of a
system which is maintained by mutually reinforced processes or
feedbacks. Regimes are considered persistent relative to the time
period over which the shift occurs. The change of regimes, or the shift,
usually occurs when a smooth change in an internal process (
feedback)
or a single disturbance (external shocks) triggers a completely different
system behavior. Although such non-linear changes have been widely studied
in different disciplines ranging from atoms to climate dynamics, regime
shifts have gained importance in ecology because they can substantially
affect the flow of ecosystem services that societies rely upon, such as
provision of food, clean water or climate regulation. Moreover, regime
shift occurrence is expected to increase as human influence on the planet
increases – the Anthropocene – including current trends on human induced
climate change and biodiversity loss.
Dynamical System is a system in which a function describes the time
dependence of a point in a geometrical space. Examples include the
mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock pendulum, the
flow of water in a pipe, and the number of fish each springtime in a lake.
At any given time, a dynamical system has a state given by a tuple of real
numbers (a vector) that can be represented by a point in an appropriate
state space (a geometrical manifold). The evolution rule of the dynamical
system is a function that describes what future states follow from the
current state. Often the function is
deterministic, that is, for a given time interval only one future state
follows from the current state. However, some systems are
stochastic, in that
random events also affect the evolution of the state variables. In
physics, a dynamical system is described as a "particle or ensemble of
particles whose state varies over time and thus obeys differential
equations involving time derivatives." In order to make a prediction
about the system’s future behavior, an analytical solution of such
equations or their integration over time through computer simulation is
realized. The study of dynamical
systems is the focus of dynamical systems theory, which has
applications to a wide variety of fields such as mathematics, physics,
biology, chemistry, engineering, economics, and medicine. Dynamical
systems are a fundamental part of chaos theory, logistic map dynamics,
bifurcation theory, the self-assembly process, and the edge of chaos
concept.
Novel Ecosystem are human-built, modified, or engineered
niches of the Anthropocene. They exist in places that have been
altered in structure and function by human agency. Novel
ecosystems are part
of the human environment and niche (including urban, suburban,
and rural), they lack natural analogs, and they have extended an
influence that has converted more than three-quarters of wild
Earth. These anthropogenic biomes include technoecosystems that
are fuelled by powerful energy sources (fossil and nuclear)
including ecosystems populated with technodiversity, such as
roads and unique combinations of soils called technosols.
Vegetation associations on old buildings or along field boundary
stone walls in old agricultural landscapes are examples of sites
where research into novel ecosystem ecology is developing.
Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a
living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals.
Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, which is more commonly
used in English-speaking countries. However, in some countries these two
terms are distinguished: the subject of a habitat is a population, the
subject of a biotope is a biocoenosis or biological community.
Ecotope
are the smallest ecologically distinct
landscape features in a landscape mapping and classification system.
As such, they represent relatively homogeneous, spatially explicit
landscape functional units that are useful for stratifying landscapes into
ecologically distinct features for the measurement and mapping of
landscape structure, function and change. Like ecosystems, ecotopes are
identified using flexible criteria, in the case of ecotopes, by criteria
defined within a specific ecological mapping and classification system.
Just as ecosystems are defined by the interaction of biotic and abiotic
components, ecotope classification should stratify landscapes based on a
combination of both biotic and abiotic factors, including vegetation,
soils, hydrology, and other factors. Other parameters that must be
considered in the classification of ecotopes include their period of
stability (such as the number of years that a feature might persist), and
their spatial scale (minimum mapping unit).
Invisible Web of the Rainforest. If we change the interactions inside
this one species of plant, that it would effect plant diversity in the
rainforest. There's these little caterpillars that can actually kill the
plant. And then there are these ants that live inside the plant that kill
the caterpillars. And then there's a beetle that kills the ants. The
experiments that we did, for the most part involved adding beetles to
patches of plants where these beetles didn't exist. When we did that what
happened is they suppressed populations of ants, which normally suppress
the caterpillars. So with the ants gone, caterpillar populations exploded
and the leaf biomass declined really quickly of this plant. And what
happened in this case is that other caterpillars were also released from
control by the ants and they ate other species of plants, including plants
that were destined to be big trees. They were seedlings of these plants
that are normally these huge 40-meter tall trees that extend out from the
canopy of the rainforest. The end result was that several years of just
barely increasing the population of these beetles changed the diversity of
plants in the understory."
Cohabitation (coexist,
symbiosis).
Investing in Conservation Pays Off. The study by an international team
of researchers found that the $14.4 billion that countries spent on
conservation from 1992 to 2003 reduced expected declines in global
biodiversity by 29 percent.
Top 10
Dangers Facing Our Planet (video)
Restoration
-
Destruction
Genetic Variation is a fact that a
biological system –
individual and population – is different over space. It is the
base of the
Genetic variability of different biological systems
in space.
Transient State is when a process variable or
variables has been
changed and the system has not yet reached a steady state. A transient
process is a process in which process variables change over time.
Transient analysis is a study of transient processes.
Transient Response is the response of a
system to a change from an
equilibrium or a steady state. The
transient response is not necessarily tied to "on/off" events but to any
event that affects the equilibrium of the system. The impulse response and
step response are transient responses to a specific input (an impulse and
a step, respectively).
Steady State is when the variables (called state variables) which
define the behavior of the system or the process are unchanging in time.
Sustainable -
Cause and Effects.
Alternative Stable State predicts that ecosystems can exist under
multiple "states" (sets of unique biotic and abiotic conditions). These
alternative states are non-transitory and therefore considered stable over
ecologically-relevant timescales. Ecosystems may transition from one
stable state to another, in what is known as a state shift (sometimes
termed a
phase shift or
regime shift), when perturbed. Due to ecological
feedbacks, ecosystems display resistance to state shifts and therefore
tend to remain in one state unless perturbations are large enough.
Multiple states may persist under equal environmental conditions, a
phenomenon known as hysteresis. Alternative stable state theory suggests
that discrete states are separated by ecological thresholds, in contrast
to ecosystems which change smoothly and continuously along an
environmental gradient.
Biological Interaction
are the
effects that the organisms in a community have on one another. In
the natural world
no organism exists in absolute
isolation, and thus every organism must
interact with the
environment
and other organisms. An organism's interactions with its environment are
fundamental to the survival of that organism and the functioning of the
ecosystem as a whole.
Biological Network is any
network
that applies to biological systems. A network is any system with sub-units
that are
linked into a whole, such as species
units linked into a whole food web. Biological networks provide a
mathematical representation of connections found in ecological,
evolutionary, and physiological studies, such as neural networks. The
analysis of biological networks with respect to human diseases has led to
the field of network medicine.
Soil.
Helping prevent eco-interventions from backfiring. Drastic ecosystem
interventions like eradicating an unwanted species can sometimes backfire,
but new modelling may help to avoid these ecological hiccups. Despite all
good intentions, ecological interventions can have devastating
consequences.
Carbon Dioxide CO2 Concentrations -
Carbon Capture
"Every child must know that we are still learning and that we
still have much to learn. Our future depends on you learning
what people have still not learned."
"Remember, it's our
responsibility to
maintain our natural environment and preserve
what we have left. The reason why we have parks and open land is
because we learned how extremely valuable our natural
world is to us. But too many people do not fully understand the
value of our natural world. So we have to find ways to spread
this message and offer free information and knowledge so that
people can educate themselves and learn what ever they need to
learn. This way, people can make good choices that would
continually improve their lives, as well as learn more and more
about all the other possibilities that life offers us."
Permaculture -
Forest Gardens
"The only resource that this
world is short of is intelligence, and intelligence is one
resource that we have the power to create ourselves."
Caring about People and the Planet can be Dangerous sometimes
116
environmental activists
were murdered in
2014 - that's
almost double the number of
journalists killed in the same period.
185
Environmental activists across 16 countries were
murdered last year in 2015 trying to protect their communities
and protecting forest, water, and land rights from illegal
mining, logging, palm oil agriculture and industrial development
projects.
200 killings in
2016 of
people defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive
industries.
2020 was The Deadliest Year Ever For Land And Environmental Activists.
Killings of Environmental Activists are Increasing.
Activism -
Journalism Hero's
Earth Defenders -
Earth Protectors
Everyone person on this planet has benefited from people who were
activists. All the freedoms we have came from activists, yet we still have
ignorant criminals who are
blinded by money, so
much so, they can no longer see the truth.
Ocean Protectors
Wildlife biologists can now cover vastly more territory with the
help of listening devices, camera traps,
drones, satellites,
remote DNA testing, and other technological timesavers.
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs."-
United Nations.
"If there's a more efficient way of doing
something then you should do it. We should be thriving
from our use of energy, and not waste our energy and poison ourselves
because of it."
"I'm seeing a lot of advancements but not a lot
of improvements. Why?" -
Environmental Quotes.
"Working with the land
is a lot easier then working against it" -
Maintenance
-
Naturalist Intelligence.
"When things are are used by many people in many places all over
the world continuously, they can have an incredible impact on the earth
and it's inhabitants. So we must make sure that the things we use a lot of
have Positive effects, because if they have negative effects the results
will be catastrophic, as clearly seen."
Trees - Tall Perennial Woody Plants
Trees help
clean the air and
help clean the
water. Trees improve
water quality
by slowing and
filtering rainwater, as well as protecting aquifers and
watersheds. Tress help save water by slowing
evaporation. Trees help prevent
soil
erosion. Tress help conserve energy by providing shade.
Trees provide vital wildlife habitat. Trees help provide
food and
water. One tree
produces somewhere between 500-600 liters of
oxygen a
day.
A person needs around 550 liters of pure oxygen each
day. One hundred trees remove 53 tons of
carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other
air
pollutants per year. Mature leafy trees, such as redwoods, aspens and oaks, are the
best producers of oxygen. Tree produces higher volumes when growing
than when mature, because converting air and soil into wood causes the
tree to produce more oxygen.
Trees release oxygen when they use energy
from sunlight to make glucose from carbon dioxide and water. It takes six
molecules of CO2 to produce one molecule of glucose by photosynthesis, and
six molecules of oxygen are released as a by-product. During daylight
hours,
plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen through
photosynthesis,
and at night only about half that carbon is then released through
respiration. However,
Plants still
remain a net carbon sink, meaning they absorb more than they emit. A tree
can absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and can
sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old.
Trees reach their most productive stage of carbon storage at about 10
years at which point they are estimated to absorb 48 pounds of CO2 per
year.
Mother Trees are the largest trees in
forests that act as central hubs for vast below ground
mycorrhizal networks. They support
young trees or
seedlings by infecting
them with fungi and ferrying them the nutrients they need to grow.
Forest Management -
Benefits of Nature -
Deforestation By adding the value of the various services that
forests perform, such as providing
clean water and absorbing
Carbon dioxide, an EU-commissioned study
estimates that the annual cost of
forest loss is between $2
trillion and $5 trillion, which is not including the loss of
humans or animal life. Air pollution now kills around seven
million people every year globally.
Trees help people live
longer, healthier, happier lives. Trees and forests help remove
17 tonnes of air pollution, physically intercepting particulate
matter and absorbing gasses through their leaves.
Tree-based ecosystem benefits had a median annual value of $505 million.
Ecological Modelling -
Increasing ecosystem services and urban wellbeing.
Tens of Billions of dollars in forest products are being overlooked.
Are we missing the forest for the trees? More than timber grows in
forests, including products worth many tens of billions of dollars. From
medicinal plants and edible insects to nuts, berries and herbs, to
materials like bamboo and latex. The
UN Food and
Agriculture Organization estimates that annual producer income from
non-wood products is US$ 88 billion -- and when the added value of
processing and other links in the value chain are included, the value of
these products rockets up to
trillions of dollars.
We estimate that roughly
30,000 different
non-timber forest products are traded internationally, but less
than fifty of them currently have a commodity code. Because these goods go
unrecorded in official trade statistics, their economic value escapes our
attention. As a result, clear opportunities to combat poverty are being
missed, according to an economist. In the Roman Empire, custom taxes on
spices, black pepper in particular, accounted for up to a third of the
empire's annual income. And during the late Middle Ages, European efforts
to
cut out middle men and
monopolize the spice trade led to
colonization in Asia.
Historically, non-timber forest products have frequently played a key role
in the global economy.
U.S. trees may provide over $100 billion dollars in savings via
environmental benefits -- but face growing threats. Study suggests
trees are more valuable as climate, air regulators than as consumable
products. The concept of ecosystem services allows researchers to quantify
the benefits that nature contributes to people into monetary units. A new
study suggests that trees provide greater economic value when used to
regulate climate and air quality than the value they produce as wood
products, food crops, and Christmas trees.
Land and Forest Conservation Websites -
Food ForestsJust because wood is
labeled Sustainable Forest Certified, this does not mean that all the wood
was not from illegal tree logging.
Greenwashing global
logging | DW Documentary (youtube) - Does the FSC really prevent
illegal deforestation?
Environmental Crime -
Greenwashing -
Forest Legality -
Sustainable Forestry -
Illegal Logging -
Legality
We Forest -
Global Forest Watch -
Green Belt Movement -
Amazon Forest
Agriculture drives more than 90% of tropical deforestation. Halting
deforestation will require a step-change in approach and to be effective
measures must address underlying and indirect roles of
agriculture, says a new study.
15.3 billion trees are cut down each
year, 45% of all trees on
planet earth have been cut down.
Trees create
oxygen,
sequester carbon,
purify the air of
pollutants, and help keep
temperatures cooler.
Each year, Americans cut down about
15 million
Christmas trees in the name of festive cheer. Those of you who
follow dining trends may have an idea of new-Nordic developments in pine
and spruce as seasonings, but how should the naive tree-eater approach
arboreal edibility?
Fires.
Charcoal -10 tons of trees to
make 1 ton of charcoal. 1/2 the trees are cut for charcoal (410,000
hectors). (Charcoal is a 12 billion industry) -
Bio-Char Carbon Reduction.
DNA Database of Trees to Stop Illegal Logging -
Animals.
How to
Grow a 1000 Year old Tree - On Feb 22, 2020, we planted “
1000
Trees for 1000 Years” in partnership with Cherrylake, the city of
Winter Garden and Healthy West Orange.
How Trees Talk to Each Other: Suzanne Simard (video and
interactive text)
Treeline (2019)
Patagonia Films (youtube)
Afforestt creating
natural, wild, maintenance free, native forests.
Arboriculture is
the cultivation,
management, and study of
individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. The
science of arboriculture studies how these
Plants grow and respond to
cultural practices
and to their environment. The practice of arboriculture includes cultural
techniques such as selection, planting, training, fertilization, pest and
pathogen control, pruning, shaping, and removal. A person who practices or
studies arboriculture can be termed an 'arborist' or an 'arboriculturist'.
A '
tree surgeon' is more typically someone
who is trained in the physical maintenance and manipulation of trees and
therefore more a part of the arboriculture process rather than an
arborist.
Risk management,
legal issues, and aesthetic considerations have come to play prominent
roles in the practice of arboriculture. Businesses often need to hire
arboriculturists to complete "tree hazard surveys" and generally manage
the trees on-site to fulfill occupational safety and health obligations.
Arboriculture is primarily focused on individual woody plants and trees
maintained for permanent landscape and amenity purposes, usually in
gardens, parks or other populated settings, by arborists, for the
enjoyment, protection, and benefit of people.
Wood Working -
Carpentry.
Arborist is a
professional
in the practice of arboriculture, which is the cultivation, management,
and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody
Plants in dendrology and
Horticulture.
Arborists generally focus on the health and safety of individual plants
and trees, rather than managing forests (the domains of forestry and
silviculture) or harvesting wood. An arborist's scope of work is therefore
distinct from that of either a forester or a logger, though the
professions share much in common.
Environmental Studies -
Seed Bank.
There
are 60,065 species of trees in the world, according to a comprehensive
study of the world's
plants. The data revealed that Brazil was the nation
with the greatest number of tree species, home to 8,715 varieties.
Botanical Gardens
Conservation International (BGCI) compiled the tree list by using data
gathered from its network of 500 member organizations.
9,200 Species of Trees yet to be discovered. Number of Earth's tree
species estimated to be 14% higher than currently known. A new study
involving more than 100 scientists from across the globe and the largest
forest database yet assembled estimates that there are about
73,000 tree species on Earth, including
about 9,200 species yet to be discovered.
Tree
species and genetic diversity increase productivity via functional
diversity and trophic feedbacks.
17,500 unique tree species that are endangered. Most of our fruit
comes from trees, as do many nuts and medicines, with non-timber products
amounting to about US$88 billion worth of trade. In the developing world,
880 million people rely on firewood for fuel,
and 1.6 billion people live within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of a forest,
relying on them for food and income. annually to the global economy, yet
we're destroying billions of them every year – clearing massive tracts of
land for farming and development. Trees are each their own little worlds,
teeming with all sorts of single- and multicellular-life forms, including
other plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals. Lose a tree, and this entire
world dies too. They often form the supportive base for the whole web of
life around them. half of all the world's animals and plants rely on treed
habitats. As with all living systems, losing diversity makes the whole
jumble of living connections more vulnerable. This is because less
variation means less diversity in immune response, in genes, and responses
to environmental conditions, meaning lower chances of surviving the many
threats battering the complex web of interactions that is life on Earth.
Some tree species provide unique interactions and can't be replaced by
other species. This includes the distinctive dragonsblood trees (Dracaena
cinnabari), leftover from the ancient Oligocene woodlands, which are host
to many other species that are entirely dependent on them, including many
other plants and the gecko that pollinates it. So the extinction of a
single species can cause a massive domino effect across everything else
that interacts with it, even if they're already rare. Species that rely on
our dwindling forests have already declined by around 53 percent since
1970, and more forests around the world are showing signs of increasing
stress. This doesn't just impact the other life trees interact with
either. Trees are interwoven with Earth's soil, atmosphere, and weather,
too – cleaning our air, producing oxygen, and making it rain. They store
three-quarters of the world's accessible freshwater and more than half its
problematic carbon dioxide. Lose enough trees and our planet's cycling of
carbon, water and nutrients will be thrown into disarray. "We're showing
that diverse forests store more carbon than monocultures," Rivers told The
Guardian. That's true for many ecological functions, not just carbon
capture, but providing habitat to animals, soil stabilization, resilience
to pests and diseases, resilience to storms and adverse weather. By losing
tree diversity, we'll also lose diversity in all organisms: birds,
animals, fungi, microorganisms, insects." A few tree species are getting
lucky and able to take advantage of the rapid environmental changes we've
caused, like those creeping into territory that fires have cleared. But
many more are being obliterated by the same processes. Much needs to be
done to combat this at a collective level, but we all can play a part by
recognizing the importance of trees and fighting our own plant blindness.
Earlier this year, researchers pointed out that fewer people than ever are
taking up botanical education in the UK at a time when we need plants more
than ever. In the lead-up to the UN's Cop15 biodiversity conference this
December, Rivers and colleagues urge leaders to integrate trees into
climate policies better and provide greater protections for them. We must
all think of the trees. This research was published in
Plants, People, Planet.
Plant for the Planet -
Arbor Day Gift Trees
Plant a
Billion Trees -
Plant for the Planet Billion Tree Campaign.
The complexity of forests cannot be explained by simple mathematical rules,
study finds. The way trees grow together do not resemble how branches grow
on a single tree, scientists have discovered.
Tropical trees use social distancing to maintain biodiversity.
Tropical forests can harbor hundreds of species of trees in one square
mile. Researchers reveal key factors in the spatial distribution of adult
trees. Using computational models, they found each tree species is much
more negatively affected by its own kind than by other species, probably
because species suffer from species-specific enemies: pathogens such as
fungi or herbivores such as insects. These enemies "make room" for other
species to establish around every tree, leading to a more diverse forest
and keeping any one species from dominating. Trees are the engineers that
provide resources for the entire ecosystem.
Naturally Re-Growing Forests are helping to protect the remaining old
forests in the
Amazon. Secondary forests that have
regrown naturally on land abandoned from agriculture are important in
counteracting the effects of forest fragmentation across the Amazon basin,
according to new findings.
Secondary Forests cover just 190,000 km2 of the Amazon but connect
more than 2 million isolated fragments of old-growth forest, prominent
amongst the world's most important habitats for biodiversity conservation.
The secondary forests are helping maintain connectivity for patches of
old-growth forest that are too small to support long-term viable
populations of rare species.
Secondary forest or second-growth forest is a forest or woodland area
which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused
disturbances, such as timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or
equivalently disruptive natural phenomena.
New maps help decision-makers factor albedo into tree-planting decisions.
Albedo can cause large reductions to the climate benefit of tree planting
-- but new science helps identify locations with greatest climate-cooling
potential. A new study provides a global analysis of where restoration of
tree cover is most effective at cooling the global climate system,
considering not just the cooling from carbon storage but also the warming
from decreased albedo. The researchers provide a tool practitioners and
land managers can use to determine just how much of a problem albedo is
for any reforestation or afforestation project on the globe.
Albedo
is the fraction of light that a surface reflects. If it is all reflected,
the albedo is equal to 1. If 30% is reflected, the albedo is 0.3. The
albedo of Earth's surface (atmosphere, ocean, land surfaces) determines
how much incoming solar energy, or light, is immediately reflected back to
space.
What we're still learning about how trees grow. A new study finds that
tree growth does not seem to be generally limited by photosynthesis but
rather by cell growth.
Water makes tree branches droop at night. Terrestrial laser scanning
data show that trees move their branches in a diurnal pattern, settling
down for the night -- as if falling asleep. Changes in the water status of
leaves and branches causes branches to move downward at night, up to 20 cm
depending on the tree species.
Climate change increases risks of tree death. All of that carbon in
trees and forests worldwide could be thrown back into the atmosphere if
the trees burn up in a forest fire. Trees also stop scrubbing carbon
dioxide from the air if they die due to drought or insect damage. The
likelihood of those threats impacting forests is increasing nationwide,
making relying on forests to soak up carbon emissions a much riskier
prospect.
California's trees are dying, and might not be coming back. Wildfires
and climbing temperatures have caused a 6.7 percent decline since 1985.
Oregon and the West may be stuck in perpetual drought, study says. In
2019, about 470,000 acres contained dead trees, DePinte said. Last year,
Oregon researchers identified at least 147,000 acres with fir tree
deaths.
Adaptability of trees persists after millions of years of climate change.
Seven of the most common forest trees in Europe have been shown to be able
to shelter their genetic diversity from major shifts in environmental
conditions. This is despite their ranges having shrunk and the number of
trees having fallen sharply during ice age cycles.
Christmas Tree Options. Real, Fake or
Rental.
Renting a tree
allows for its
replanting and reuse after the holiday season.
Rent a Artificial Christmas
Tree or real one. (Fir, Frasier Fir or Balsam Spruce).
Plant Trees while you
Search the Web. Ecosia
search engine has helped plant almost 18
million trees. It takes around 45 searches to plant a tree.
Super Trees may help save Houston. Live oaks, sycamores top ranking of
trees that mitigate effects of pollution, climate change. Live oaks were
the best for their ability to soak up pollutants across the board. The
sycamore was less able to pull in carbon but excelled at grabbing other
pollutants, flood remediation and reducing heat on the ground with its
wide canopy. A new study by collaborators at Rice University, the Houston
Health Department's environmental division and Houston Wilderness
establishes live oaks and American sycamores as champions among
17 super trees that will help make the city
more livable and lays out a strategy to improve climate and health in
vulnerable urban areas.
Around 0.9 billion hectares of land worldwide would be suitable for
reforestation, which could ultimately capture two thirds of human-made
carbon emissions.
Kokota Island On
the Brink of Collapse Makes a Huge Comeback | Short Film Showcase
(youtube)
Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape.
Imported giant sequoia trees are well adapted to the UK, growing at rates
close to their native ranges and capturing large amounts of carbon during
their long lives, finds a new study. There are an estimated half a million
redwoods in the UK and more are being planted, partly due to their public
appeal. In the wild they are endangered with fewer than 80,000 giant
sequoias remaining in their native California range.
Forest
is an area of land dominated by
trees. Hundreds
of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating
factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and
ecological function.
World's most important
Forests.
Scandinavian and Russian Taiga (wiki)
Congo
Basin Forest (wiki)
Mexico (wiki)
Borneo (wiki)
New Guinea (wiki)
Bulgaria and Romania (wiki)
Amazon Rainforest
Lists of
Forests (wiki) -
List of Countries by Forest Area (wiki)
Boreal Forest is a vast region in Canada comprising about one third of
the circumpolar boreal forest that rings the Northern Hemisphere, mostly
north of the 50th parallel. Other countries with boreal forest include
Russia.
Borealis
is a unique 2020 cinematic documentary that goes deep into
Canada's iconic snow
forest to understand how black spruce and birch experience life, talk
to each other and decide when the time is right to burn themselves down.
Animals are key to restoring the world's forests. By dispersing seeds,
animals can rapidly reestablish plant diversity in degraded forests.
Animals are our greatest allies in reforestation.
We Forest
restoring forests for Climate, People, Planet.
Forest Service is an agency of the
U.S.
Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national
forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres
(780,000 km2). Major divisions of the agency include the National Forest
System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, and the Research
and Development branch. Managing approximately 25% of federal lands, it is
the only major national land agency that is outside the
U.S. Department of the
Interior.
Forest Fires.
National Forest Management Act of 1976 is a United States federal law
that is the primary statute governing the administration of national
forests and was an amendment to the Forest and Rangeland Renewable
Resources Planning Act of 1974, which called for the management of
renewable resources on national forest lands. The law was a response to
lawsuits involving various practices in the national forest, including
timber harvesting.
Forests International connects people and their communities to the
forests that sustain them.
David Milarch's
Mission to Revive the Last Redwood Forests (youtube) -
Moving the Giants.
Sequoia Sempervirens is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia
in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae).
Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California
redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living
1,200–1,800 years or more. The oldest known coast redwood is about 2,200
years old. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth,
reaching up to
379 feet (115.5 m) in height
(without the roots) and up to 29.2 feet (8.9 m) in diameter at breast
height (dbh). These trees are also among the oldest living things on
Earth. Coast redwoods are resistant to insect attack, fungal infection,
and rot. These properties are conferred by concentrations of terpenoids
and tannic acid in redwood leaves, roots, bark, and wood. Despite these
chemical defenses, redwoods are still subject to insect infestations;
none, however, are capable of killing a healthy tree. Redwoods also face
predation from mammals: black bears are reported to consume the inner bark
of small redwoods, and black-tailed deer are known to eat redwood sprouts.
Burl is a woody material full of
unsprouted bud tissue. It serves as a storage compartment for the genetic
code of the parent tree. If the redwood falls or is damaged, the burl may
sprout another redwood tree known as a
clone.
Forests
International -
Ancient Tree
Archive -
Propagation
Trees for a
Change is a tree or a group of trees is planted in an area of a U.S.
Forest that's been
damaged by fire. Information about where the tree is
located and photos of it are posted online. The recipient of your gift can
go online and learn about the tree. They can even use a map to find it and
plan a trip to visit it!
Norway commits to Zero Deforestation and has become the first
country in the world to commit to zero deforestation.
Iceland Is Growing New Forests for the First Time in 1,000 Years | Short
Film (youtube) - Within a few centuries, almost all of the island’s
trees were slashed and burned to make room for farming. This rapid
deforestation has resulted in massive soil erosion that puts the island at
risk for desertification. Today, the Icelandic Forest Service has taken on
the mammoth task of bringing back the woodlands. With the help of forestry
societies and forest farmers, Iceland’s trees are slowly beginning to make
a comeback. Watch this short film by Euforgen to learn more about how
their efforts are working to benefit Iceland's economy and ecology through
forestry.
How one man created a Forest in a Cold Desert (youtube)
i Tree Tools for Assessing and Managing Community Forests.
The African
Baobab Tree (Adansonia digitata) is called the tree of life. Baobab
trees can live for more than a thousand years and provide food, livestock
fodder, medicinal compounds, and raw materials. Scientists counted the
significant tree's 168 chromosomes -- information critical for
conservation, agricultural improvement, and further genetic work.
Want Your City to Thrive? Look to Its Trees
Alliance for Community Trees
Adding Symbiotic Mycorrhiza Fungi to the Roots of newly planted trees.
Benefits to the
fungal partner. The fungus within a mycorrhiza receives sugars from
its plant host. Since fungi do not photosynthesise (produce their own
energy from the sun) and most plants do, the plant becomes a vital source
of energy for the fungus. Certain mycorrhizas will actually live inside
the plant's root, so the plant can also help isolate them from
competitors.
Mycorrhiza
are
symbiotic relationships between fungi and plant
roots (the term means literally 'fungus root'). Perhaps more than 80% of
the species of higher plants have these relationships, and so do many
pteridophytes (ferns and their allies) and some mosses (especially
liverworts).
"We
trust the United States Forest Service to '
speak for the trees, for
the trees have no tongues.'"
The court concluded that the
Forest Service's decisions violated both
the National Forest Management Act and the National Environmental Policy
Act, and found the Forest Service lacked the authority to grant the
pipeline a right of way across the Appalachian Trail.
Logging down the value chain raises future forest sustainability concerns.
Over a 50-year period, logging on B.C.'s Central Coast preferentially
targeted the highest value locations on the landscape, according to new
research. The systematic depletion of high-value components of the
environment raises concerns about future sustainability and
intergenerational access to natural resources. Led by SFU PhD graduate
Jordan Benner and professor emeritus Ken Lertzman and published this week
in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, their
research shows that, over time, harvesting operations moved to forest
stands of increasingly lower productivity and accessibility, which they
refer to as 'harvesting down the value chain'.
National Environmental Policy Act is a United States environmental law
that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the
President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on
January 1, 1970. To date, more than 100 nations around the world have
enacted national environmental policies modeled after NEPA. NEPA's most
significant outcome was the requirement that all executive federal
agencies prepare environmental assessments (EAs) and environmental impact
statements (EISs). These reports state the potential environmental effects
of proposed federal agency actions. NEPA does not apply to the President,
Congress, or the federal courts.
Who
Bombed Judi Bari? (2012) Aired: 03/02/2012 | 1 hr. 32 min.
who bombed judi bari.com
-
Trees Foundation.
Over 64,000 trees were planted
in 15 minutes, breaking the world record for the most trees
planted simultaneously. 7,000 people helped to plant
Saplings in
the Philippines province of
Camarines Sur. Forests in the
Philippines are considered to be one of the ten most threatened
forests in the world.
Conservation International reports that these threatened forests store over 25
gigatons of
Carbon. Meanwhile, 15% of the world's
Greenhouse Gas
emissions are due to
Deforestation. China has reportedly
increased its forests by an unprecedented three million
Hectares
per year. But many conservationists are concerned that
Old-Growth Forests are still disappearing as new forests are
deliberately planted. As
Conservation International's Olivier
Langrand explains, "Forests must be seen as more than just a
group of trees."
1000s in Ecuador pitch in to plant nearly 650,000 trees in One
DayIndia
plans to plant 2 billion trees
along the nation’s highway.
India plants 66 million trees in
12 hours as part of record-breaking environmental campaign. More than 1.5
million volunteers were involved in the huge operation.
Drone That’s On A
Mission To Plant One Billion Trees using biodgradble seed pods (youtube)
-
Drones
The Great Green Wall an African-led project with an epic ambition: to
grow an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of
Africa. Its goal is to provide food, jobs and a future for the millions of
people who live in a region on the frontline of climate change. Once
completed, the Great Green Wall will be the largest living structure on
Earth and a new Wonder of the World.
Great Green Wall initiative to combat the effects of climate change
and
desertification.
Why is Africa
building a Great Green Wall? BBC News (youtube)
"The great
green wall will defend us from the desert and
The
Great Wall of Intelligence that will defend us from ignorance".
Reforestation is the natural or intentional restocking of existing
forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually
through
deforestation, which is clearcutting or clearing is the removal of a
forest or stand of trees from land which is then converted to a non-forest
use.
Afforestation
is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area
where there was no previous tree cover.
Terraforming (intelligent
design)
Two
Become ONE: Blind Man and friend with No Arms plant 10.000 trees
in 10 years in China (youtube)
Newly grown tropical forests can capture harmful carbon from the
atmosphere at a rate up to 11 times faster than older forests.
We need to actively promote protection of old-growth forests as
well as to promote natural forest regeneration.
Mangroves can help countries mitigate their carbon emissions. Coastal
environments are highly effective at capturing carbon.
Ghost
Forest are areas of dead trees in former forests, typically in coastal
regions where
rising sea levels or tectonic shifts
have altered the height of a land mass. Forests located near the coast or
estuaries may also be at risk of dying through
saltwater poisoning, if invading seawater reduces the amount of
freshwater that deciduous trees receive for sustenance. Looking at the
stratigraphic record, it is possible to reconstruct a series of events
that lead to the creation of a ghost forest. Where, in a convergent plate
boundary, there has been orogenic uplift, followed by earthquakes
resulting in subsidence and tsunamis, altering the coast and creating a
ghost forest. A ghost forest is the watery remains of a once verdant
woodland. The salty water slowly poisons living trees, leaving a haunted
ghost forest of dead and dying timber.
Nature can provide services on par with traditional
infrastructure. On average, forests make up just 40 percent of
urban watersheds, with 30 percent of the area being used for
crops and 20 percent for pasture. Replanting forests,
restoring rivers, and
changing farming practices to limit runoff.
Tropical forests covering an area
nearly the size of India are set to be destroyed in the next 35
years.
Center for
Global Development.
China is
Building a Belt of Trees that will stretch some 2,800
miles across north and northwest China in an attempt to stop the
advance of the
Gobi Desert. Overall, the country has planted 13 million
hectares (32 million acres) of new forest since 2008, according
to the State Forestry Administration. Global Forest Watch, China
has been suffering a net loss of about 523,248 hectares (1.29
million acres) of tree cover a year since 2011. Since 2008, that
yearly amount appears to be dropping.
Saihanba National Forest Park is a national forest park located in
Weichang Manchu and Mongol Autonomous County, Chengde, Hebei, China, with
Inner Mongolian Plateau standing in the northwest, covering an area of
200.29-square-kilometre (77.33 sq mi). Established in 1962, this is a
multifunctional botanical park integrating scientific research, plant
species collection and display as well as tourism. Saihanba is often
called "the Green Lung of north China". There are more than 618 species
and 312 genera vascular plants cultivated in the park, including
Eleutherococcus gracilistylus, Astragalus propinquus, Glycine, and
Agropyron. Within the boundaries of the park, the following number of
species are known to live: 261 species of mammals, 39 species of birds, 32
species of fish, and about 660 species of insects.
How pervasive is biotic homogenization in human-modified
tropical forest landscapes. The paper suggests that creating
a network of forest reserves nestled inside agricultural areas
would be the most beneficial way to preserve biodiversity. These
would include a mix of undisturbed and partially degraded
forests.
National Forest Management Act of 1976.
How
Many Trees can be Grown in One Acre depends on the space between
each tree, and the type of tree. (1'x1' foot spacing can have 43,560 trees
- 10'x10' 436 trees - 30'x30' 48 trees - 250'x250' 1 tree).
Seedlings -
Farming Knowledge -
Food
Forest
How to Save Forests
Growing the Wood Raw Material
Flourishing faster: How to make Trees Grow Bigger and Quicker
In fast-warming Minnesota, scientists are trying to plant the forests of
the future. Across hundreds of acres, the Forest Service has planted
about 275,000 seedlings as part of the massive experiment that Palik
oversees. The project involves several approaches. Some plots are left
virtually untouched. In other areas, workers have thinned trees and
managed the forest to shield the native pines from heat stress and
drought. But the boldest part of the experiment is known as “assisted
migration” — planting of trees that once would not have been found here,
but that are expected to flourish in the future that scientists foresee in
Minnesota’s North Woods. The climate is changing “at a rate that’s
unprecedented in geologic history,” he said. “And plants, including trees,
don’t migrate at that same rate.” There are also obstacles — roads,
parking lots, agricultural fields — that make the trees’ slow migration
north more difficult. So we’re helping things move.
Tree
Planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings,
generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping
purpose. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in
arboriculture, and from the lower cost but slower and less
reliable distribution of tree seeds.
Tree Planting Tips -
Tree
Planting
Native Forest Council is an American environmental
organization "dedicated to the preservation and protection of all publicly
owned natural resources from destructive practices, sales, and all
resource extraction. Commercial timber sales, grazing, mining, and oil and
gas extraction all contribute to the destruction and degradation of air
quality, wildlife habitat, and of our wilderness areas. We believe a sound
economy and a sound environment need not be incompatible, and that current
land management practices are devastating to both.
Native Forest Action was set up protect the publicly owned
native forests of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand from
logging.
Friends of
Trees -
Arbor Day
-
Tree People
-
Plant
Trees
Health
in Harmony
Tree Relocation Machine (youtube)
Tree
Relocation University of Michigan (youtube)
Enhanced Tree Removal - Enhanced Tree Trimming by Electric
Companies
40 Metre
Tree Removal (youtube)
Fall Photos -
Autumn Facts
Living near Trees can make you feel
Healthier.
Neighborhood greenspace and health in a large urban center.
Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal
cortex activation.
Brodmann area 25 (brain cortex)
Rumination (worrying
instead of problem solving)
11 scientifically proven reasons you should be spending less
time in the office.
Plant a Tree in Someone's Memory:
Seeds of Life -
Plant a Memory
-
New Growth
-
Green Burials.
"There is something special when the tree leaves finally come
out, it's like a breath of fresh air and a burst of energy."
Trees Dying
Chestnut Blight is a devastating disease of the American
chestnut tree that in the early 1900s caused a rapid, widespread
die-off of the once plentiful tree from its historic range, in
the Eastern United States.
American Chestnut for Restoration -
Transgenic American Chestnuts show enhanced Blight Resistance
and transmit the trait to T1 progeny.
Recognizing Hazardous Defects In Trees
Rapid Ohi'a Death | Ceratocystis Wilt of Ohi'a Native Hawaiian
Trees
Sudden Oak Death Pathogen
Bioengineering Trees to be more Resilient.
Blight
-
Plant
Diseases -
Saving the Ash Tree
Fraxinus is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and
lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually
medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical
species are evergreen. The genus is widespread across much of
Europe, Asia and North America.
Potential effect of
Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) on urban
trees in the United States. Beetle could have killed a third of
the trees in cities nationwide, at a loss of up to $669 billion.
Asian Long-Horned Beetle species has now been accidentally introduced
into the United States.
Emerald Ash Borer is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to
north-eastern Asia that feeds on
ash
species.
Parasitoid Wasp are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with
all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As
parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods,
sooner or later causing the death
of these hosts. Different species
specialise in hosts from different insect orders, most often Lepidoptera,
though some select beetles, flies, or bugs; the spider wasps (Pompilidae)
exclusively attack spiders.
New Aerial Survey Identifies More Than 100 Million Dead Trees in
California.
There used to be 4 billion American
chestnut trees, but they all disappeared.
Phytophthora ramorum is the oomycete plant pathogen known to
cause the disease
sudden oak death (SOD). The disease kills oak
and other species of trees and has had devastating effects on
the oak populations in California and Oregon, as well
as being present in Europe. Symptoms include bleeding cankers on
the tree's trunk and dieback of the foliage, in many cases
eventually leading to the death of the tree.
Chemicals from wood waste: Vitamins, medication, solvents,
crop protection products and polymers cost-effective,
environmentally friendly and safe manner -- using bacteria to create
Succinic Acid.
Amazon Rain Forest - The Largest Rain Forest in the World
1.5 million square miles (1.7 billion-acre jungle), covering about 40 percent of
South America.
Makes up more than half of the
Rainforest remaining on the
planet, producing over 20 percent of the world’s oxygen
and home to more than one-third of all living species in the
world. It is the source of one-fifth of the Earth’s river water.
The Amazon is
situated in nine countries:
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru,
Suriname and Venezuela. The
Amazon River
pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one
hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip
fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon
river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world
combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United
States.
Amazonas Images -
Sebastiao SalgadoGlobal Forest Watch 2.0
-
Global Forest Watch -
Guardians of the AmazonA teaspoon of
soil
from the Amazon contains as many as 1,800 microscopic life forms, of which
400 are fungi. The vast majority of the estimated
3.8 million fungi in
the world have yet to be formally classified.
Pandemics.
DETERring Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon -
Guardians of the
Amazon (Full Documentary) (youtube)
There have been 74,155 fires in Brazil so far this
year in 2019 — most of which erupted in the Amazon. That represents
an astonishing leap of more than 80% over last year and by far the most
that the agency has recorded since it began compiling this data in 2013.
About half those fires, or nearly 36,000 of them, have ignited in just the
past month. That's nearly as many as in all of 2018. Smoke from the
fires has darkened the skies over major Brazilian cities, such as São
Paulo.
HUGE Amazon
Rainforest Fires, São Paulo in Brazil SMOTHERED in Smoke! - Aug. 2019
(youtube).
Amazon Rainforest is Losing Resilience. New evidence from satellite
data analysis. The Amazon rainforest is likely losing resilience, data
analysis from high-resolution satellite images suggests. This is due to
stress from a combination of
logging and
burning -- the influence of human-caused
climate change is not clearly determinable so far, but will likely matter
greatly in the future. For about three quarters of the forest, the ability
to recover from perturbation has been decreasing since the early 2000s,
which the scientists see as a warning sign. The new evidence is derived
from advanced statistical analysis of satellite data of changes in
vegetation biomass and productivity.
Estimated 390 billion individual trees divided
into 16,000 species. Trees in the Amazon make their own rain. Trees
are often considered the lungs of the Earth, inhaling the greenhouse gas
carbon dioxide (CO2), and exhaling harmless chemicals like water vapor and
oxygen (O2). Trees give off other particles, aerosol-forming chemicals are
from trees, or biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), In a process
called
transpiration, plants release
water vapor from small pores on the underside of their leaves. Moisture
that evaporates from the ocean tends to be lighter than water vapor
released into the atmosphere by plants. That’s because during
evaporation, water molecules
containing deuterium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen made of one proton and
one neutron, get left behind in the ocean. By contrast, in transpiration,
plants simply suck water out of the soil and push it into the air without
changing its isotopic composition.
Plants help seed the atmosphere for
rain by releasing tiny salt particles. But the new study strongly supports
the idea that
plants play an important role in triggering the
rainy
season.
Older trees accumulate more mutations than their younger counterparts.
A study of the relationship between the growth rate of tropical trees and
the frequency of genetic mutations they accumulate suggests that older,
long-lived trees play a greater role in generating and maintaining genetic
diversity than short-lived trees.
Deuterium is a
stable isotope of hydrogen, found in extremely small amounts in
nature. The nucleus of deuterium, called a deuteron, contains one proton
and one neutron, whereas the far more common hydrogen nucleus contains
just one proton and no neutrons. Consequently, each atom of
deuterium (chemical symbol D or ²H) has roughly twice the mass of an
ordinary
hydrogen atom, and deuterium
is also called heavy hydrogen. Water in which ordinary hydrogen atoms are
replaced by deuterium atoms is known as heavy water.
Old-Growth Forest also termed primary forest, virgin forest,
primeval forest, late seral forest, or (in Great Britain)
ancient woodland — is a forest that has attained great age
without significant disturbance and thereby exhibits unique
ecological features and might be classified as a climax
community. Old-growth features include diverse tree-related
structures that provide diverse wildlife
habitat that increases
the
biodiversity of the forested
ecosystem. The concept of
diverse tree structure includes multi-layered canopies and
canopy gaps, greatly varying tree heights and diameters, and
diverse tree species and classes and sizes of woody debris.
Old-growth forests are valuable for economic reasons and for the
ecosystem services they provide. This can be a point of
contention when some in the logging industry may desire to cut
down the forests to obtain valuable timber, while
environmentalists seek to preserve the forests for benefits such
as maintenance of biodiversity, water regulation, and nutrient
cycling.
American Forests.
Old-growth trees are more drought tolerant than younger ones,
providing a buffer against climate change. A new analysis of more than
20,000 trees on five continents shows that old-growth trees are more
drought tolerant than younger trees in the forest canopy and may be better
able to withstand future climate extremes. The findings highlight the
importance of preserving the world's remaining old-growth forests, which
are biodiversity strongholds that store vast amounts of planet-warming
carbon, according to forest ecologists.
Environmental Monitoring
and Law Enforcement. (eyes in the sky) -
Forest Gardens
Detection of Deforestation or DETER is a
satellite-based system
that enables frequent and quick identification of deforestation
hot spots, greatly enhanced monitoring and targeting capacity,
making it easier for law enforcers to act upon areas with
illegal deforestation activity.
Paying People Not to Cut Down their Trees could be
cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions.
Cash for carbon: A
cost-effective way to reduce deforestation.
How to tackle the global deforestation crisis. New research examines
the 'revolution' in the study of deforestation brought about by
satellites, and analyzing which kinds of policies might limit
climate-altering deforestation. Deforestation is a major contributor to
climate change, producing between 6 and 17 percent of global greenhouse
gas emissions, according to a 2009 study. Meanwhile, because trees also
absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere, they help keep the
Earth cooler. And climate change aside, forests protect biodiversity.
Payments For Ecosystem Services are
incentives offered to farmers or landowners in exchange for
managing their land to provide some sort of
ecological service. They have been defined as "a transparent
system for the additional provision of environmental
services through conditional payments to voluntary providers."
These programmes promote the conservation of natural resources
in the marketplace.
Alone in the
Wild.
Chevron
vs. the Amazon - Full Documentary // Empire Files (youtube -
1 hour) Abby launches a deep investigation into Chevron Texaco's
intentional spilling of 19 billion gallons of oil and waste in
Ecuador's pristine Amazon.
Antonio donato Nobre: The Magic of the Amazon
(video and text)
Mark Plotkin: what the people of the Amazon know that you don't (video
and text)
Akuntsu
(youtube)
Amazônia Eterna The Amazon rainforest is a vast laboratory
for experiments that are unveiling new relationships among human
beings, corporations and natural heritage that is crucial for
life on the planet. (12/05/2012 | 1 hr. 23 min.)
With more than 80 percent of
Earth's forests already destroyed,
The United
Nations Environment Program recently released an alarming
report indicating organized crime is responsible for 50 to 90
percent of
illegal Logging in tropical countries in the Amazon basin,
Central Africa and South East Asia.
illegal Logging info -
Palm-Oil Products
Willie
Smits: How to Restore a Rainforest (youtube) -
TED Video
Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the
largest in Asia
Masarang
FoundationBurning Wood
Land use change has warmed the Earth's surface. Activities like
cutting down evergreen forests for agricultural expansion in the tropics
create energy imbalances that lead to
higher local
surface temperatures and contribute to global warming.
Success in the Amazon: Reducing deforestation. A unique public-private
initiative has reduced deforestation in the Amazon for soy farming,
highlighting opportunities for similar efforts across the tropics. In
2006, Greenpeace launched a campaign exposing deforestation caused by soy
production in the Brazilian Amazon. In the previous year, soy farming
expanded into more than 1,600 square kilometers of recently cleared
forests. The destruction, they said, had to stop.
Almost 19 million
Hectares of
Forests are destroyed every year due to
Deforestation and
illegal Logging? This is a direct result of people being
forced to do horrible things by way of
Economic Slavery and also a result of peoples ignorance and
lack of education about Land Management. Land does not need to
be cleared for our survival, it's the other way around. On top
of that the planet is losing almost 20 million hectares of
existing
Arable Land due to degradation and bad Land Management and
Bad Farming
practices? So you see the the main problem still exists,
economic slavery and peoples lack of education and information
about
Land
Management.
Sustainable Land Management
Earth Policy -
CO2Scientists estimate that
humans burn an
average of 175 million acres of forest and grassland every year,
often to make room for agriculture and living space.
Deep In The Amazon, An Unseen Battle Over The Most Valuable
Trees Rubber Tappers.
Rubber
Tapping is the process by which latex is collected from a
rubber tree. The latex is harvested by slicing a groove into the bark of
the tree at a depth of a quarter inch with a hooked knife and peeling back
the bark. Trees must be approximately six years old and six inches in
diameter in order to be tapped for
latex.
Help
Save Ecuador's Indigenous Peoples Ancestral Lands that includes
Rain Forests from Destructive Oil Drilling
World in tree density: dark green represents a million or more
trees per square kilometer. There are fewer trees in the lighter
shades of green. The buff color has very few trees and darkest
brown represents areas with no trees.
A team of 38 scientists finds that the planet is home to
3.04 trillion trees, blowing away the previously estimate of 400
billion. That means, the researchers say, that there are 422
trees for every person on Earth.
More Earth Info.
Conifers
Conifers evolved before the
broadleaf trees. Conifers produce their
seeds in
woody cones.
Broadleaf's produce their seeds in more fleshy fruits.
Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests (wiki).
Coniferous means bearing pinecones, most coniferous are
evergreen.
Needle is a thin, long modified leaf typical of conifers.
Evergreen means retaining leaves year round, therefore remaining
“
forever green”.
Softwood usually refers to coniferous trees.
Wood Working.
Broadleaf is a thin, broad leaf structure with a good deal of
surface area.
Deciduous is the dropping of a part that is no longer needed, in
this case leaves.
Hardwood is another commonly used word for deciduous, broadleaf
trees.
Agathis
or
Kuri tree is a genus of 22 species of
evergreen
tree. The genus is part of the ancient
conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic
and Cretaceous periods, but now largely restricted to the Southern
Hemisphere except for a number of extant Malesian Agathis.
Conifers can be green because of a photosynthetic short-cut. In
winter, light energy is absorbed by the green chlorophyll molecules but
cannot be utilized by the downstream reactions in the
photosynthetic
machinery as freezing temperatures stop most biochemical reactions.
This is especially a problem in the early spring when temperatures can
still be very low, but sunlight is already strong, and the excess light
energy can damage the proteins of the photosynthetic machinery. The
researchers showed that the
photosynthetic
apparatus is wired in a special way which allows pine needles to stay
green all year long. Under normal conditions, the two photosystems, the
two functional units where light energy is absorbed and converted into
chemical energy, are kept apart from each other to prevent a short-cut and
allow efficient
photosynthesis. In winter, the structure of the thylakoid membrane,
where the two photosystems are located, is reorganized which brings the
two photosystems in physical contact. The researchers showed that
photosystem II donates energy directly to photosystem I and this short-cut
mode protects the green chlorophyll and the needles when conditions become
harsh.
Christmas trees like
cypress,
cedars and
yews are poisonous if eaten. And be sure that your tree wasn't sprayed
with pesticides and other chemicals.
Fir, which
is a really popular choice of Christmas trees, is quite zesty.
Pine is a
little bit more floral and a little bit more delicate.
Spruce
is quite almost like vanilla in a way, you can use the needles like a
herb.
Cedar is the common name for
cedar wood, used
for several different trees that grow in different parts of the world.
Calocedrus decurrens is the primary type of wood used for making
pencils, and is a species of
conifer native to western North America.
Tree Resin is where
amber comes from, which is fossilized tree resin.
Resin is a "solid or highly viscous substance" of plant or
synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers.
They are often mixtures of organic compounds, principally
terpenes. Many plants, particularly woody plants, produce resin
in response to injury. The resin acts as a bandage protecting
the plant from invading insects and pathogens.
North Atlantic Oscillation and synchronized tree reproduction across
Europe plays a greater role in large scale masting, the process
whereby forest trees produce large numbers of
seeds in the same year.
Pine
is any conifer in the genus pinus of the family
pinaceae,
which are trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of
commercial importance such as cedars, firs, hemlocks, larches, pines and
spruces.
Beetle Kill Pine is the
result of blue stain fungus that spreads from bark beetles to Lodgepole
Pine, Douglas Fir, and Whitebark Pine trees. The blue stain pine fungus
works symbiotically with the beetles by turning the tree wood into
nutrients.
Pinus Lambertiana is the
tallest and most
massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer.
Commonly growing to 40–60 meters (130–195 ft) tall with a trunk diameter
of 1.5–2.5 m (4 ft 11 in–8 ft 2 in). The massive 31 Gigabase mega-genome
of sugar pine has been sequenced in 2016 by the large PineRefSeq
consortium. Descended from trees that survived California's historic
drought.
Norfolk Island PineMast Years occur in
five-to-seven-year cycles. That is when Oak trees produce a huge amount of acorns.
Wollemia
is a genus of coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. Wollemia was
known only through fossil records until the Australian species Wollemia
nobilis was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area
of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, in a remote series of
narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges 150 km (93 mi) north-west of Sydney.
The genus is named after the National Park. The oldest fossil of the
Wollemi tree has been dated to 200 million years ago. Wollemia nobilis is
an evergreen tree reaching 25–40 m (82–131 ft) tall. The bark is very
distinctive, dark brown and knobbly, quoted as resembling Coco Pops
breakfast cereal. The leaves are flat linear, 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) long and
2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) broad. They are arranged spirally on the shoot but
twisted at the base to appear in two or four flattened ranks. As the
leaves mature, they develop from bright lime-green to a more
yellowish-green. The seed cones are green, 6–12 cm (2.4–4.7 in) long and
5–10 cm (2.0–3.9 in) in diameter, and mature about 18–20 months after wind
pollination. They disintegrate at maturity to release the seeds which are
small and brown, thin and papery with a wing around the edge to aid
wind-dispersal. The male (pollen) cones are slender conic, 5–11 cm
(2.0–4.3 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) broad and reddish-brown in
colour and are lower on the tree than the seed cones. Seedlings appear to
be slow-growing and mature trees are extremely long-lived; some of the
older individuals today are estimated to be between 500 and 1,000 years
old.
Teak or Tectona grandis, is a tropical
hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large,
deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. Tectona grandis has
small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicles) at the
end of the branches. Teak's natural oils make it useful in exposed
locations, and make the timber termite- and pest-resistant. Teak's high
oil content, high tensile strength and tight grain make it particularly
suitable where weather resistance is desired. Teak has been used as a
boat-building material for over 2000 years. high strength, teak is also
highly resistant to rot, fungi and mildew. The wood has a relatively low
shrinkage ratio, which makes it excellent for applications where it
undergoes periodic changes in moisture. Teak has the unusual property of
being both an excellent structural timber for framing or planking, while
at the same time being easily worked and finished, unlike some otherwise
similar woods such as purpleheart. For this reason, it is also prized for
the trim work on boat interiors. Due to the oily nature of the wood, care
must be taken to properly prepare the wood before gluing. Teak is durable
even when not treated with oil or varnish. Timber cut from old teak trees
was once believed to be more durable and harder than plantation-grown
teak. Studies have shown that plantation teak performs on par with
old-growth teak in erosion rate, dimensional stability, warping, and
surface checking, but is more susceptible to colour change from UV
exposure. The vast majority of commercially harvested teak is grown on
teak plantations found in Indonesia and controlled by Perum Perhutani (a
state owned forest enterprise) that manages the country's forests. The
primary use of teak harvested in Indonesia is in the production of outdoor
teak furniture for export. Nilambur in Kerala, India, is also a major
producer of teak, and is home to the world's oldest teak plantation. Teak
consumption raises a number of environmental concerns, such as the
disappearance of rare old-growth teak. However, its popularity has led to
growth in sustainable plantation teak production throughout the seasonally
dry tropics in forestry plantations. The Forest Stewardship Council offers
certification of sustainably grown and harvested teak products.
Propagation of teak via tissue culture for plantation purposes is
commercially viable. Teak is propagated mainly from seeds. Germination of
the seeds involves pretreatment to remove dormancy arising from the thick
pericarp. Pretreatment involves alternate wetting and drying of the seed.
The seeds are soaked in water for 12 hours and then spread to dry in the
sun for 12 hours. This is repeated for 10–14 days and then the seeds are
sown in shallow germination beds of coarse peat covered by sand. The seeds
then germinate after 15 to 30 days. Clonal propagation of teak has been
successfully done through grafting, rooted stem cuttings and micro
propagation. While bud grafting on to seedling root stock has been the
method used for establishing clonal seed orchards that enables assemblage
of clones of the superior trees to encourage crossing, rooted stem
cuttings and micro propagated plants are being increasingly used around
the world for raising clonal plantations. Previously, the world's biggest
recorded teak tree was located within the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary
in the Palakkad District of Kerala in India, named Kannimara. The tree is
approximately 47.5 metres (156 ft) tall. Its age is between 450–500 years
and is considered one of the oldest teak trees in the world.
Pollution - Dirty Bombs
Pollution
is the introduction of
contaminants into the
natural environment
that cause
adverse change. Pollution can take the form of
chemical
substances or energy, such as
noise, heat, light
or
words. Pollutants, the
components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or
naturally occurring contaminants. Pollution is often classed as point
source or nonpoint source pollution. In 2015,
pollution killed 9 million
people in the world. Major forms of pollution include:
Air pollution,
light pollution, littering,
noise pollution, plastic pollution,
soil
contamination, radioactive contamination,
thermal pollution, visual
pollution,
water pollution. The major forms of pollution are listed below
along with the particular contaminant relevant to each of them:
Air pollution: the release of chemicals and
particulates into the atmosphere. Common gaseous pollutants include
carbon
monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrogen oxides
produced by industry and motor vehicles. Photochemical ozone and smog are
created as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons react to sunlight. Particulate
matter, or fine dust is characterized by their
micrometre size PM10 to PM2.5.
Electromagnetic Pollution: the overabundance of electromagnetic
radiation in their non-ionizing form, like radio waves, etc, that people
are constantly exposed at, especially in large cities. It's still unknown
whether or not those types of radiation have any effects on human health,
though. Light pollution: includes light trespass, over-illumination and
astronomical interference.
Littering: the
criminal throwing of inappropriate man-made objects, unremoved, onto
public and private properties.
Noise Pollution:
which encompasses roadway noise, aircraft noise, industrial noise as well
as high-intensity sonar.
Plastic
Pollution: involves the accumulation of plastic products and
microplastics in the environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife
habitat, or humans.
Soil contamination
occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground leakage. Among
the most significant soil contaminants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals,
MTBE, herbicides, pesticides and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Radioactive Contamination, resulting
from 20th century activities in atomic physics, such as nuclear power
generation and nuclear weapons research, manufacture and deployment. (See
alpha emitters and actinides in the environment.)
Thermal Pollution, is a temperature change in natural water bodies
caused by human influence, such as use of water as coolant in a power
plant.
Visual Pollution, which can refer to
the presence of overhead power lines, motorway billboards, scarred
landforms (as from strip mining), open storage of trash, municipal solid
waste or space debris.
Water Pollution,
by the discharge of wastewater from commercial and industrial waste
(intentionally or through spills) into surface waters; discharges of
untreated domestic sewage, and
chemical contaminants, such as chlorine,
from treated sewage; release of waste and contaminants into surface runoff
flowing to surface waters (including urban runoff and agricultural runoff,
which may contain chemical fertilizers and pesticides; also including
human feces from open defecation – still a major problem in many
developing countries); groundwater pollution from waste disposal and
leaching into the ground, including from pit latrines and septic tanks;
eutrophication and littering.
Pollution has a cost.
Manufacturing activities that cause air pollution impose health and
clean-up costs on the whole of society, whereas the neighbors of an
individual who chooses to fire-proof his home may benefit from a reduced
risk of a fire spreading to their own homes. A manufacturing activity that
causes air pollution is an example of a negative externality in
production. A negative externality in production occurs “when a firm’s
production reduces the well-being of others who are not compensated by the
firm." For example, if a laundry firm exists near a polluting steel
manufacturing firm, there will be increased costs for the laundry firm
because of the dirt and smoke produced by the steel manufacturing firm. If
external costs exist, such as those created by pollution, the manufacturer
will choose to produce more of the product than would be produced if the
manufacturer were required to pay all associated environmental costs.
Because responsibility or consequence for self-directed action lies partly
outside the self, an element of externalization is involved. If there are
external benefits, such as in public safety, less of the good may be
produced than would be the case if the producer were to receive payment
for the
external benefits to others. However, goods and services that
involve negative
externalities in production, such as those that produce
pollution, tend to be over-produced and underpriced since the
externality
is not being priced into the market.
Pollution has
been found to be present widely in the environment. There are a
number of effects of this:
Biomagnification describes situations where
toxins (such as heavy metals) may pass through trophic levels, becoming
exponentially more concentrated in the process.
Carbon dioxide emissions cause ocean acidification, the ongoing
decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans as
CO2 becomes dissolved. The
emission of
greenhouse gases leads to
global warming which affects
ecosystems in many ways. Invasive species can outcompete native species
and reduce biodiversity. Invasive plants can contribute debris and
biomolecules (allelopathy) that can alter soil and chemical compositions
of an environment, often reducing native species competitiveness.
Nitrogen
oxides are removed from the air by rain and fertilise land which can
change the species composition of
ecosystems. Smog and haze can reduce the
amount of sunlight received by plants to carry out photosynthesis and
leads to the production of tropospheric ozone which
damages plants. Soil
can become infertile and unsuitable for plants. This will affect other
organisms in the food web. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause
acid rain which lowers the pH value of soil. Organic pollution of
watercourses can
deplete oxygen levels and reduce species diversity.
Pollute is to make something
impure in a
bad way. To make something
harmful, especially by the addition
of some
unwanted substance.
Garbage in the Sky.
Defile is to make something
dirty
or polluted, as by exposure to air. To make
foul, dirty, or
unclean. To taint
or debase. To stain or to spoil or spot. To violate the chastity of someone, or to
sully as a person's
reputation. To make impure for ceremonial use;
to desecrate.
Defiled is to be
morally blemished, stained, polluted or impure.
Filth -
Pathogens
Environmental Crimes -
Crimes
against Humanity -
Consent to Operate -
Global Warming -
Methane -
Industrial Disasters
-
Body Burden
Detailed
Map of Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution in the U.S. -
How People Die
130 million
Americans routinely breathe unhealthy air, about 70 million of those
are people of color, report finds.
Air pollution causes
hundreds of thousands of premature deaths
each year in the U.S. alone. It is one of the most profound public health
risks in the nation. About 130 million Americans live in places where
particle or ozone pollution exceeds levels the EPA considers healthy.
4 industries accused of causing 2.7m deaths a year in Europe. Tobacco,
Ultra-Processed Foods, Fossil Fuels and Alcohol. They also
obstruct public policies that could hurt their profits.
Climate Trace
is an interactive map that uses a combination of satellites, sensors and
machine learning to measure the top polluters worldwide.
The
Devil is in the Details is a
saying
that refers to the
realization
of elements that are hidden in the
details. Meaning that something might seem simple at a first look, but
after a further and more deeper
examination, a truth emerges that paints a different picture. The
saying derives from the earlier phrase, "
God is in
the Detail" expressing the idea that whatever one does should be
done thoroughly and thoughtfully; the
details are important.
Carbon Capture.
38 trillion dollars in damages each year: World economy already
committed to income reduction of 19 % due to climate change. Even if CO2
emissions were to be drastically cut down starting today, the world
economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19% until 2050 due
to climate change, a new study finds. These damages are six times larger
than the mitigation costs needed to limit global warming to two degrees.
Based on empirical data from more than 1,600 regions worldwide over the
past 40 years, scientists assessed future impacts of changing climatic
conditions on economic growth and their persistence.
Vermont becomes 1st state to require oil companies to pay for climate
change damages.
Republicans have received 97% of Big
Oil's political donations to members of the House Energy and
Commerce's oversight subcommittee. The top oil and gas companies spent
more than $12.4 million on
lobbying in the first quarter of 2022. Oil and
gas industry sector regularly pumps the vast majority of its campaign
contributions into
Republican
coffers.
Americans are not addicted to
oil. That is
the big lie
people are being told. Oil companies are
addicted to money and they have forced their addiction on the world by
monopolizing oil and
killing the competition.
Fossil-Fuel Subsidies surged to a record $7 trillion in 2022.
Implicit subsidies are the undercharging
for environmental costs and forgone consumption taxes, after accounting
for preexisting fuel taxes and carbon pricing. Consuming fossil fuels
imposes enormous environmental costs—mostly from local air pollution and
damage from global warming.
Explicit subsidies
occur when the retail price is below a fuel's supply cost.
Exxon-Mobil is currently topping the list of the
biggest oil companies in the USA and one of the world's largest oil
companies by production.
88% of global oil and gas reserves are controlled
by the OPEC cartel and state-owned oil companies, primarily located in the
Middle East. Percentage shares of world crude oil production in 2021 were
United States 14.5%, Russia 13.1%, Saudi Arabia 12.1%, Canada 5.8%, Iraq
5.3%. Growth in oil and gas production has led to major new revenues for
US state and local governments.
Price Gouging -
Inflation -
Price
Index -
Scarcity -
Stock Pile -
Supply and Demand -
Supply Chain
Big oil and Opec are holding the world to ransom – it’s time to rein them
in. A new study calculated that the oil and gas industry has made more
than $2.8bn (£2.4bn) a day in profits over the past half-century. In the
second quarter of 2022, Exxon posted a profit of $17.9bn, the highest any
publicly listed oil company has ever reported. Chevron hauled in $11.6bn,
while Shell reported $11.47bn and BP $9.3 bn, its biggest windfall in more
than 14 years. Saudi Aramco’s Hawiyah gas plant in Saudi Arabia. National
oil companies such as Saudi Aramco saw year-on-year profits rise 90%
during the second quarter.
90% of World's Oil Slicks Caused by Oil Companies. Scientists mapping
oil pollution across the Earth's oceans have found that more than 90% of
chronic oil slicks come from human sources, a much higher proportion than
previously estimated.
Cleanup of inactive Gulf of Mexico wells estimated at $30 billion.
Waters off Alabama, Louisiana and Texas are home to 14,000 nonproductive
wells. Wetlands, coastal areas and offshore waters near Alabama, Louisiana
and Texas have more inactive oil and gas wells than producing ones, and
the cost to permanently plug and abandon them could be $30 billion.
Good Neighbor Plan secures significant reductions in ozone-forming
emissions of nitrogen oxides from power plants and industrial facilities
for millions of
people living in downwind communities, which will save thousands of
lives and result in cleaner air and better health. The Good Neighbor Plan
ensures that 23 states meet the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor”
requirements by reducing pollution that significantly contributes to
problems attaining and maintaining EPA’s health-based air quality standard
for ground-level ozone (or “smog”), known as the 2015 Ozone National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), in downwind states. The Supreme
Court over the past few years, the justices struck down the Clean Power
Plan. Then, they slashed the EPA's jurisdiction over the
Clean Water Act. And just last month, they seemed
skeptical about another case involving regulations for the fishing
industry.
Oil Spills and Leaks Happen Daily across U.S. Each year there are
more than 10,000 spills of oil and
hazardous substances, according to federal estimates, many that get into
water supplies. A six month CBS News
investigation found that spills of crude oil and
Toxic Chemicals last year alone were three times the amount of
the Exxon Valdez spill. CBS News collected reported incidents for 2010 at wells and
pipelines from three federal agencies and 23 of 33 oil and gas
producing states. Not counting the BP disaster, we found
at least 6,500 spills, leaks, fires or explosions nationwide - that's
18 a day. Overall, at least 34 million gallons of crude oil and other
potentially toxic chemicals were spilled. That's triple the size of
the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.
Poisoned Drinking Water.
Dead wildlife, destroyed land, illness, injury, and people being forced from their homes.
Pollution
contributed to the deaths of some 9.9 million people in 2015 by
causing diseases such
cancer,
heart disease and respiratory illnesses. That's three times
more deaths than the death toll
from
AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria combined.
CO2 Poisoning -
Global
Warming -
Air Pollution (Consent to
Operate) -
Second Hand Smoke -
Ozone
Brain Damage from Pollution
Americans are
Dumber because of Leaded Gas. (youtube) - Engineering Explained breaks
down why
small planes continue to use leaded gas even though its a leading
cause of
brain damage.
Contaminated Water
-
Toxins -
Body Burden
Traffic Pollution impairs brain function. First-in-the-world study
suggests that even brief exposure to
air pollution
has rapid impacts on the brain. A new study has shown that common levels
of traffic pollution can impair human brain function in only a matter of
hours. The study was the first to show in a controlled experiment using
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that exposure to diesel
exhaust disrupts the ability of different areas of the human brain to
interact and communicate with each other.
How air pollution can harm team performance. High levels of
air
pollution can affect teams doing complex tasks, which holds implications
for emerging economies. High levels of air pollution can harm performance
of teams, which are vital for solving complex problems such as developing
clean energy technologies and vaccines, and this could harm economic
development in highly polluted emerging economies, says a new study
co-authored at Cambridge Judge Business School.
Risk factors for faster aging in the brain revealed in new study.
Researchers have used data from UK Biobank participants to reveal that
diabetes, traffic-related air pollution and alcohol intake are the most
harmful out of 15 modifiable risk factors for dementia.
Epigenetic effects of pollution persist for multiple generations in water
fleas. A new study has shown that the effects of pollutants can be
transmitted over many generations in water fleas and may persist long
enough to influence the evolutionary process. The research adds new
evidence to the debate on whether environmental influences can cause
heritable changes to an animal's biology. Genes passed down from parents
to offspring are overlaid by a complex array of proteins and chemicals
that determine how they are expressed -- collectively known as the 'epigenome'.
The epigenome is sensitive to environmental stresses, such as pollution,
which can alter gene expression. Importantly, there is increasing evidence
that these stress-induced changes can be transmitted across generations.
Cummins
who violated pollution laws, has agreed to pay a
$1.675 billion penalty for allegedly installing defeat devices on
hundreds of thousands of engines to allow them to emit excess pollution.
This is the largest-ever civil penalty for a Clean Air Act violation, the
U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. Defeat devices bypass or disable
emissions controls such as emission sensors and onboard computers, which
helps to skirt pollution rules by lying. Vulnerable communities who reside
near highways is where these harmful emissions are concentrated. Cummins
is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and
distributes engines, filtration and power generation products. Cummins
reported a net income of $2.15 billion on sales of $28 billion in 2022.
Environmental Crime is an
illegal act which directly
harms
the environment.
Lawsuit.
Air Pollution Disparities. While air quality has improved dramatically
over the past 50 years thanks in part to the Clean Air Act,
people of
color at every income level in the United States are still exposed to
higher-than-average levels of air pollution.
Environmental Racism or
ecological apartheid
is a form of institutional racism leading to landfills, incinerators, and
hazardous waste disposal being disproportionally placed in communities of
colour. Internationally, it is also associated with extractivism, which
places the environmental burdens of mining, oil extraction, and industrial
agriculture upon Indigenous peoples and poorer nations largely inhabited
by people of color.
Environmental Justice is a social movement to address the unfair
exposure of poor and
marginalized communities
to harms associated with resource extraction, hazardous waste, and other
land uses. The movement has generated hundreds of studies establishing
this pattern of
inequitable exposure to
environmental harms, as well as a large interdisciplinary body of social
science literature that includes political ecology, contributions to
environmental law, and theories on justice and sustainability. The
environmental justice movement began in the United States in the 1980s and
was heavily influenced by the American civil rights movement.
Water Contamination.
The
Environmental Protection Agency in 2022 awarded grants for projects to
monitor air quality in 37 states, with a focus on minority communities and
other areas overburdened by pollution. A total of 132 projects will
receive $53.4 million to enhance air quality monitoring near chemical
plants, refineries and other industrial sites — part of a commitment by
the Biden administration to focus on environmental justice in communities
adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution. The grants are
funded by the sweeping climate and health law approved in August and the
coronavirus relief plan approved by Congress last year.
How bankruptcy lets oil and gas companies evade cleanup rules.
Bankruptcy for
profit.
Steven Donziger is an American attorney known for his legal battles
with Chevron, particularly the Lago Agrio oil field case. Donziger
represented over 30,000 farmers and Indigenous people from Ecuador in a
case against Chevron related to environmental damage and health effects
caused by oil drilling. The Ecuadorian courts awarded the plaintiffs $9.5
billion in damages, which led Chevron to withdraw its assets from Ecuador
and launch legal action against Donziger in the US. In 2011, Chevron filed
a RICO suit against Donziger in New York City. The case was heard by U.S.
District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan who determined that the ruling of the
Ecuadorian courts could not be enforced in the US because it had been
achieved through offences against legal ethics including racketeering.
Donziger was disbarred from practicing law in New York in July 2018.
Donziger has been under house arrest since August 2019 awaiting trial on
charges of criminal contempt of court, which arose during his appeal
against Kaplan’s RICO decision. In 2020 twenty-nine Nobel laureates
described the actions taken by Chevron against Donziger as "
judicial
harassment" and human rights campaigners have described Chevron's
actions as an example of a strategic lawsuit against public participation
(SLAPP). In April 2021, six members of the Congressional Progressive
Caucus demanded that the Department of Justice review Donziger's case.
Public Interest Law.
High Air Pollution Exposure in 1-year-olds Linked to Structural Brain
Changes at age 12.
Chemical Warfare (pesticides) -
Nuclear Waste
-
Drugs in Drinking Water.
Texas coal companies are leaving behind contaminated land. And the state is
letting them.
Children Exposed to Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Suffered Physical and
Mental Health Effects.
Thousands of oil and gas operations,
government facilities and other sites have won permission to stop
monitoring for hazardous emissions or otherwise bypass rules intended to
protect health and the environment because of the coronavirus outbreak,
The Associated Press has found. Trump administration paved the way for the
reduced monitoring March 26 AP’s two-month review found that waivers were
granted in more than 3,000 cases.
Willow Master Development Plan. Bureau of Land Management
publishes final supplemental analysis. The BLM manages more than 245
million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states,
including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also
administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the
nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity
of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future
generations.
In 2021,
the Biden administration sold oil and gas leases days after the climate
summit, which included eighty million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, an area
twice the size of Florida. Energy companies, led by Exxon Mobil Corp.,
only placed bids on a total of 1.7 million acres, and it's unclear how
much of that will later be developed. The Biden administration argues that
it didn't have much of an option. Shortly after taking office, Biden
announced a temporary pause on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands
and waters, pending a review of their impact on the worsening climate
crisis. Roughly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from
fossil fuel extraction from public lands. More than a dozen
Republican-led states
filed a lawsuit challenging the pause, saying it would cause undue harm to
the energy industry and state economies reliant on fossil fuel production,
which is an extremely
invalid argument, because industries can easily be
reliant on clean energy jobs, as many are now. These narrow minded
psychopaths believe they have a right to
harm people and
damage
the environment just for money. You can make money in more humane ways, no need to be ignorant
morons.
Disregard is a
willful lack of care and attention.
Demerit Good is a good or service whose consumption is considered
unhealthy, degrading, or otherwise socially undesirable due to the
perceived negative effects on the consumers themselves.
America
uses around 18 million barrels of oil each day.
Polluted
Air exposure could compromised a persons ability to fight off an illness
because pollution stifles the
immune response to infections.
Connecticut has 2,267 lakes and
ponds that measure more than 10 acres, but a
state water monitoring
program is only able to sample around 20 annually for the overall health
of the water body, according to the Department of Energy & Environmental
protection.
Superfund Sites List in America (wiki) -
Hazardous Waste
-
Passing the Buck.
Can Poor Air Quality make you Gain Weight? Breathing dirty air takes a
heavy toll. A new study links air pollution to changes in the human gut
microbiome which could fuel diabetes, obesity and inflammatory bowel
diseases like colitis and Crohn's disease. The researchers looked at data
from air-monitoring stations near the subjects' addresses to calculate
their previous-year exposure to ozone (which forms when emissions from
vehicles are exposed to sunlight), particulate matter (hazardous particles
suspended in the air), and nitrous oxide (a toxic byproduct of burning
fossil fuel). Of all the pollutants measured, ozone had the greatest
impact on the gut by far, accounting for about 11% of the variation seen
between study subjects -- more of an impact than gender, ethnicity or even
diet. Those with higher exposure to ozone also had less variety of
bacteria living in their gut. Subjects with higher exposure to ozone also
had a greater abundance of a specific species called Bacteroides
caecimuris. In all, the researchers identified 128 bacterial species
influenced by increased ozone exposure. Some may impact the release of
insulin, the hormone responsible for ushering sugar into the muscles for
energy. Other species can produce metabolites, including fatty acids,
which help maintain gut barrier integrity and ward off inflammation.
Saying people are addicted to oil is a lie.
People only have limited choices that have been forced on them by ignorant
criminals. People are
addicted to wanting
more is also a lie. People don't want more, people want better. People
only want more because they have been programed to want more by
continually being
bombarded by
advertisements that influence their thinking and warp their
understanding of themselves and the world around them. People are not
addicted to anything, they're just
manipulated.
Pollution kills 9 million a year and costs $4.6
trillion. The number of people killed by pollution is undoubtedly
higher. Premature deaths, 16 percent of all deaths worldwide, most often
the world's poorest who suffer.
Offsets.
Polluters are like Suicide Bombers who
mass murder people everyday in the name of money. It's time to change the
meaning of the phrase "Trophy Hunting", it will now mean shutting down
polluting businesses who poison the environment and mass murder people for
money. Decorate your wall with that.
Suburban Ponds are a Septic Buffet. A new study by Yale shows that
human waste accounts for a high percentage of nutrients consumed by some
animals and plants in suburban ponds.
Pipeline Spills, 1986-2016 in the last 30 years, there have been over
8,700 liquid pipeline spills, averaging nearly one every day. 4.2
million barrels (176 million gallons) that have spilled in the last 30
years.
Dakota Access Pipeline Project -
Bakken Pipeline Map.
The Longest Continuous Oil Spill in American
History is the
MC20 Oil Platform operated by Taylor Energy, which leaks about 96
barrels a day. The Oil Sheen is visible for miles and you can even see it
from space.
Neil Young's New
Anti-Pipeline Protest Song Dakota Access Pipeline supports the Standing
Rock Sioux Reservation.
Indian
Givers...Young, Neil (youtube)
Voice Of Baceprot -
The Enemy of Earth is You (youtube)
Severn
Suzuki at Rio Summit 1992 with Eng Subtitle. Severn Suzuki, a 12 year
old girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes, making her speech on UN
Conference at Rio earth summit.
Contaminates
-
Toxins
Rocket Fuel that's Cleaner, Safer and still full of energy. Research
shows that it may be possible to create rocket fuel that is much cleaner
and safer than the hypergolic fuels that are commonly used today. And
still just as effective. The new fuels use simple chemical 'triggers' to
unlock the energy of one of the hottest new materials, a class of porous
solids known as metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs.
There are about 18,000 contaminated sites in
Connecticut with 516 designated as
brownfields. There are more than 800 contaminated sites in
Stamford, nearly 600 contaminated sites in Bridgeport, more than 620 in
Norwalk, 450 in Danbury, 400 in Greenwich, 400 in New Haven, almost
200 in Middletown and almost 150 in Torrington. Contaminated or
potentially contaminated sites include gas stations, colleges, hospitals,
car dealerships and auto body shops, and manufacturing and storage
facilities. The worst are considered brownfields, typically abandoned
factories, mills and warehouses that still have excessive traces of
nitrogen, calcium, petroleum hydrocarbons arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury
or other harmful substances. There are currently 516 brownfields on the
DEEP List, 45 of them in Bridgeport, 35 in Stamford, 20 in Middletown,
17 in Norwalk, 16 in New Haven, 10 in Torrington, 3 in Danbury and 2 in
Greenwich. The DEEP maintains a list of contaminated or potentially
contaminated sites in every town, and includes whatever remediation may or
may not have been attempted.
List of Superfund sites in Connecticut (wiki).
Brownfield Land describes land previously used for industrial or
commercial purposes with known or suspected pollution including soil
contamination due to hazardous waste.
Residual is remaining after the greater
part or quantity has gone. Relating to or indicating a remainder.
Something left after other parts have been taken away.
The Big Fix - BP
Deepwater Horizon
Oil Spill Cover up
(youtube) 06/19/2012
| 02:07.
On April 22, 2010
the
Deepwater Horizon
offshore drilling
rig sank into the
Gulf of Mexico
creating the worst
oil spill in
history.
205 million gallons
of crude oil and
over 1.8 millions
gallons of
chemical dispersant
Corexit went
into the sea.
*Criminals*
OIL & WATER (full
documentary HD) oil
industry Cajun
Deepwater Horizon
Feature Film (youtube Published
8/3/2015 =
1:14:10) -
Cajun (wiki) -
Acadia (wiki)
Chevron vs. the
Amazon - Full Documentary // Empire Files (youtube - 1 hour) - Abby
launches a deep investigation into Chevron Texaco's intentional spilling
of 19 billion gallons of oil and waste in Ecuador's pristine Amazon.
The Empire Files:
The Tyranny of Big
Oil (youtube
28:25 mins.) - Son of
a Snake Oil Salesman.
How Big Oil
Conquered the World
(youtube, 1:11 mins.)
Documentaries Page
NASA CSI: On the
Trail of a Hazy
Global Killer
Map shows
concentrations of
nitrogen dioxide
in the lower
atmosphere as
detected by the
Ozone
Monitoring
Instrument
aboard the Aura
satellite.
OMI instrument.
Oil and
Water Don't Mix. Aging oil pipelines threaten the pristine waters of
the
Straits of Mackinac in the Great lakes.
Development of ultrathin durable membrane for efficient oil and water
separation. The development of technology to separate oil from water
is crucial for dealing with oil spills and water pollution generated by
various industries.
By 2025, it is predicted that
two thirds of the world's population won't have sufficient access to clean
water. Therefore the development of technologies to filter oily
emulsions and thus increase the amount of available clean water is gaining
increasing attention.
Tiny shrimplike
amphipods living in the
Mariana Trench
were contaminated at levels similar to those found in crabs living in
waters fed by one of China's most polluted rivers. The amphipods were
contaminated with PCBs —
polychlorinated biphenyls —
toxic chemicals used for decades in industry, as well as other
industrial pollutants known as persistent organic pollutants.
MAGELLO User-friendly, high-resolution atmospheric and ocean data to identify movement of spills or toxic releases in rivers, ocean and air.
Oil demand in 2012 was 89.17 million
barrels per day worldwide, an increase of 1.07 million barrels
per day over 2011. Demand is projected to increase to 90.11
million barrels per day in 2013 and 91.46 million barrels per
day in 2014.
Source:
U.S.
Energy Information Administration -
Statistics.
Energy
Alternatives
Oil Spill Cleanup
Equipment
Polymer Sponge capable of soaking up oil spills it can be squeezed to
recover the oil and then reused. The highly buoyant polymer is made of
waste cooking oils and sulphur, by-products of the food and petroleum
industries, and has the ability to clean up crude oil and diesel spills.
CBS News Video
Toxic -
Toxins
in Products -
Hazardous Waste
What BP Doesn't want
you to know about
the 2010 Gulf Spill.
Corexit is a
product line of oil dispersants used during oil spill response operations.
Warnings from the Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet for 2-butoxyethanol
include: "Cancer Hazard: 2-Butoxy Ethanol may be a carcinogen in humans
since it has been shown to cause liver cancer in animals. Many scientists
believe there is no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen...
Nalco.
Acid Rain is a
rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning
that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). It can have
harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure. Acid rain
is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react
with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. Some
governments have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the release of
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere with positive
results. Nitrogen oxides can also be produced naturally by lightning
strikes, and sulfur dioxide is produced by volcanic eruptions. Acid rain
has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters and soils,
killing insect and aquatic life-forms, causing paint to peel, corrosion of
steel structures such as bridges, and weathering of stone buildings and
statues as well as having impacts on human health.
What Ever Happened
To Acid Rain? (youtube)
Toxin -
Poison -
Terrorism
In early 1920s, the hazards of lead
were well known—even Charles Dickens and Benjamin Franklin had written
about the dangers of lead poisoning. But on the morning of Dec. 9, 1921,
in Dayton, Ohio, researchers at a General Motors lab poured a new fuel
blend into one of their test engines. Immediately, the engine began
running more quietly and putting out more power.
The new fuel was
tetraethyl lead. With vast profits in sight—and very few public health
regulations at the time—General Motors Co. rushed gasoline diluted with
tetraethyl lead to market despite the known health risks of lead. They
named it “Ethyl” gas. In May 1925, the US. Public Health Service asked GM,
Standard Oil and public health scientists to attend an open hearing on
leaded gasoline in Washington. The issue, according to GM and Standard,
involved refinery safety, not public health. Frank Howard of Standard Oil
argued that tetraethyl lead was diluted at over 1,000 to 1 in gasoline and
therefore posed no risk to the average person. By 1926, the Public Health
Service announced that they had “no good reason” to prohibit leaded
gasoline, even though internal memos complained that their research was
“half baked.”
8 Fossil Fuel Companies Responsible for 15% of
Global Carbon Emissions Since 1850's: Chevron. ExxonMobil. BP.
Royal Dutch Shell. ConocoPhillips. Peabody Energy. Consol Energy.
Arch Coal.
Climate Accountability Scorecard Ranking -
Article.
The Sleepy Texan
Town Suffering In
The Shadow Of Big
Oil (youtube) -
Petroleum Statistics.
Fuel Oil is a
fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a
residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid fuel that is burned in a
furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the
generation of power, except oils having a flash point of approximately 42
°C (108 °F) and oils burned in cotton or wool-wick burners. In this sense,
diesel is a type of fuel oil. Fuel oil is made of long hydrocarbon chains,
particularly alkanes, cycloalkanes and aromatics. The term fuel oil is
also used in a stricter sense to refer only to the heaviest commercial
fuel that can be obtained from crude oil, i.e., heavier than gasoline and
naphtha.
Pesticides
Kyoto
Protocol is an
international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (a)
global warming is occurring and (b) it is extremely likely that human-made
CO2 emissions have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted
in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997 and entered into force on February
16, 2005. There are currently 192 parties (Canada withdrew effective
December 2012) to the Protocol.
Key Documents.
Global Alliance on
Health and Pollution
Factsheets -
Pollution Facts
Exposures to
polluted soil, water
and air (both
household and
ambient) killed 8.4
million people in
these countries in
2012.
World Health
Organization statistics show that 56 million people died in 2012 — that’s
every person who passed away on the planet, whether from car accidents,
suicides, old age, cancer, hospital errors, lightning strike, infectious
diseases, parachute failures, war or any number of other reasons. So,
pollution killed nearly one in seven of them.
Other things that
Kill Humans
It cost a "staggering"
$76.6 billion to
cover the health
expenses of American
children who were
sick because of
exposure to
Toxic Chemicals and
Air Pollutants in 2008,
according to new
research by senior
scientists at the
Mount Sinai School
of Medicine in New
York.
Warning: Mafia May
Cause Cancer
(youtube)
90% of all
Cancers are
caused by some form
of
Pollution.
California could save $7.2 billion in healthcare costs -- and prevent more
than 400 premature deaths -annually if the state adopts a 64 miles-
per-gallon equivalent fuel economy standard, according to a report
released Tuesday by the American Lung Assn. in California.
Higher Levels of Airborne Organic Hydroperoxides.
Environmental Damage
is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources
such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat
destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as
any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious
or undesirable. As indicated by the I=PAT equation, environmental impact
(I) or degradation is caused by the combination of an already very large
and increasing human population (P), continually increasing economic
growth or per capita affluence (A), and the application of resource
depleting and polluting technology (T). Environmental degradation is one
of the ten threats officially cautioned by the High-level Panel on
Threats, Challenges and Change of the United Nations. The United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction defines environmental
degradation as "The reduction of the capacity of the environment to meet
social and ecological objectives, and needs". Environmental degradation is
of many types. When natural habitats are destroyed or natural resources
are depleted, the environment is degraded. Efforts to counteract this
problem include environmental protection and environmental resources management.
Superfund Sites (wiki)
-
Flooding Dangers
Destructive Mining
The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels
The Secret of the Seven Sisters -
Special series - Al Jazeera
(youtube) -
Seven Sisters Oil Companies (wiki)
The Biggest and Most Damaging Disasters in Human History
Boom: North America's Explosive Oil-By-Rail Problem
(youtube)
Counter Spill
lists Pollution Disasters around the World.
Sea Snot
is a collection of mucus-like organic matter found in the sea. The creamy,
gelatinous substance is generally not harmful, but can attract viruses and
bacteria, including E. coli, and it can become a blanket that suffocates
the marine life below. It is frequently seen in the Mediterranean Sea and
has been spreading into farther-flung waters. Contents. Sea snot forms as
a result of prolonged warm temperatures and calm weather in areas with
abundant nutrients in the water. Globs of marine snow coagulate into large
blobs that can span distances as large as 125 miles (200 km). The mucilage
has many components, including a wide range of microorganisms including
viruses and prokaryotes, and exopolymeric compounds with colloidal
properties. Sea snot is also produced by phytoplankton when they are
stressed. Sea snot was first reported in 1729 and has long been seen as a
nuisance to the fishing industry and coastal populations. Recently, sea
snot has emerged not only as a nuisance, but as a major hazard. Globs of
sea snot can harbor bacteria such as E. coli that threaten maritime flora
and fauna, as well as humans exposed to contaminated water. It can also
coat the gills of sea creatures subsumed in it, cutting off oxygen and
killing them. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
created large amounts of sea snot. Scientists are not sure how exactly the
spill caused so much sea snot to form, but one theory asserts that the sea
snot could have been the result of a massive kill of microscopic marine
life creating a "blizzard" of marine snow. Scientists worry that the mass
of sea snot could pose a biohazard to surviving marine life in the area.
It is widely believed that the sea snot left by the spill directly
resulted in the loss of sea life in the Gulf of Mexico, as evidenced by a
dead field of deepwater coral 11 kilometers from the Deepwater Horizon
station.
Red Tide
a common name for harmful algal blooms occurring along coastal regions,
which are resulted from large concentrations of aquatic microorganisms,
such as protozoans and unicellular algae (e.g. dinoflagellates and
diatoms). Terrestrial runoff containing fertilizer, sewage and livestock
wastes transport abundant nutrients to the seawater and stimulates bloom
events. Natural causes, such as river floods or upwelling of nutrients
from the sea floor, often following massive storms, provide nutrients and
trigger bloom events as well. Increasing coastal developments and
aquaculture also contribute to the occurrence of red tides. Harmful algal
blooms can occur worldwide, and natural cycles can vary regionally.
Clean air research converts toxic air pollutant into industrial chemical.
Just because people use products that are made from oil does not
mean we don't have other choices and options. Just because some
criminal takes away our choices and options does not mean that
options don't exist anymore. When they are people living a life
that you believe doesn't exist, that means that there is
choices. People say that we are dependent on oil, but that is
clearly a lie. That is like saying that the drug addict needs
drugs, or that the soldier needs people to kill. To say that we
need oil for jobs is a lie, that's like saying that we need war
to live, or that we need to poison the environment, and that we
need to kill people and destroy peoples health just because it creates jobs.
Ignorance is killing us.
Air Pollution - Dirty Air - Ozone
Air Pollution
occurs when harmful or
excessive quantities of substances including the
gases (
CO2, CO, SO2, NO, CH4, CFC, Radon, etc.), particles (both organic
and inorganic), and biological molecules are introduced into Earth's
atmosphere. It
may cause diseases, allergies and even
death to humans; it
may also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food
crops, and may damage the natural or built environment. Both human
activity and natural processes can generate air pollution.
Indoor Air Pollution
(Cancer Flavored Air) -
Pollution Types -
Ozone
Air pollution kills
an estimated 7 million people worldwide every year. 4.3 million
deaths in 2012 caused by
indoor air pollution, mostly people
cooking inside using wood and coal stoves in Asia.
WHO said
there were about 3.7 million deaths from outdoor air pollution
in 2012, of which nearly 90 percent were in developing
countries.
More
than 95% of world's population breathe dangerous air -
World Air Pollution Map (image) -
Toxins
Those most affected
by air pollution are children whose
immune systems and lungs are not fully developed.
Fine particulate matter
— PM 2.5 — increases the risk of respiratory infection in children. In
Ulaanbaatar PM 2.5 is usually six to seven times the World Health
Organization allowance, but can be as much as 25 times higher. One of the
leading causes of death for children under 5 here is acute lower
respiratory infection, accounting for 15 percent of under 5 childhood
mortality cases under age 5.
Air pollution in schools. Most UK primary schools experience levels of
pollution which
exceed the safe levels set
out by the World Health Organization, yet simple measures can cut outdoor
and indoor exposure of toxins by almost half, according to a new study.
First evidence that air pollution particles and metals are reaching the
placenta. Inhaled particulate matter from air pollution can move from
the lungs to distant organs, and that it is taken up by certain cells in
the human placenta, and potentially the fetus. Black particles that
closely resembled particulate matter from pollution were found in
placental cells from all fifteen women and these appeared in an average of
1 per cent of the cells which were analyzed.
Ozone.
Leaded gasoline calculated to have stolen more than 800 million cumulative
IQ points since the 1940s. Researchers calculate that exposure to car
exhaust from leaded gas during childhood stole a collective 824 million IQ
points from over 170 million Americans alive today, more than half of the
population of the United States. In 1923, lead was first added to gasoline
to help keep car engines healthy, even knowing that they knew lead was
dangerous to human health. Lead is neurotoxic and can erode brain cells
after it enters the body. As such,
there is no
safe level of exposure at any point in life. Lead is able to reach
the bloodstream once it's inhaled as dust, or ingested, or consumed in
water. In the bloodstream, it's able to pass into the brain through the
blood-brain barrier, which is quite good at keeping a lot of toxicants and
pathogens out of the brain, but not all of them. Americans born before
1996 may now be at greater risk for lead-related health problems, such as
faster aging of the brain. Leaded gas for cars was banned in the U.S. in
1996, but the researchers say that anyone born before the end of that era,
and especially those at the peak of its use in the 1960s and 1970s, had
concerningly high lead exposures as children.
Water Pollution.
Lead Test measures the blood levels of lead through a venipuncture
draw (a needle is used to draw blood from a vein). Taking blood from a
child's finger is called a finger-stick or a capillary test. Lead is a
toxic metal that can damage the brain, organs, and nervous system.
Potential
Inhaled Dose -
City Cyclists:
Here's How Much Pollution You're Actually Inhaling (HBO) (youtube) -
86,000 bicycle commuters in NYC -
How much Pollution you're actually inhaling -
Air Pollution.
New study links air pollution with higher rates of head and neck cancer.
A recent study correlates higher levels of pollutant particulate matter to
higher occurrences of head and neck aerodigestive cancer.
Africa's dangerous air pollution levels are a global problem, says new
research. Over the last 50 years African nations have suffered from
rapidly deteriorating air quality, making their cities some of the most
polluted in the world. Particulate matter concentration levels are now
five to ten levels greater than that recommended by the World Health
Organization, with the situation predicted to worsen as populations grow
and industrialization accelerates.
Wildfires and farming activities may be top sources of air pollution
linked to increased risk, cases of dementia. No amount of air pollution is
good for the brain, but wildfires and the emissions resulting from
agriculture and farming in particular may pose especially toxic threats to
cognitive health, according to new research. The findings come as
unusually poor air quality is regularly triggering alerts in the U.S. The
alerts are aimed at protecting the public from the unseen, swirling mix of
microscopic toxins in air pollution, specifically fine
particulate matter or PM2.5. It is one of
the most concerning elements of air pollution. At less than 2.5 microns in
size, PM2.5 is less than the width of a human hair. Because it's so small,
it can enter the brain through the nose directly or cross the blood-brain
barrier in other ways. PM2.5 is also known to affect the lungs, heart, and
in emerging research, the brain and cognitive function.
Exposure Inhalation Assessment Tools. Inhalation exposure can result
from breathing air that is contaminated with particulate matter (e.g.,
dust), vapors (e.g., volatile or semivolatile contaminants), or aerosols.
Individuals can be exposed via the inhalation route during a variety of
activities outdoors and indoors.
Indoor receptors
could also be exposed to outdoor air contaminants that infiltrate the
indoor environment.
CO2.
Scientists find evidence of link between diesel exhaust, risk of
Parkinson's.
Clean Air Act
is a United States
Federal Law designed to control air pollution
on a national level. It is one of the United States' first and most
influential modern environmental laws, and one of the most comprehensive
air quality laws in the world. The 1955
Air Pollution Control Act was the first U.S federal legislation that
pertained to air pollution; it also provided funds for federal government
research of air pollution.
Environmental Crime is an
illegal act which directly harms
the environment. International bodies such as the G8, Interpol, European
Union, United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations
Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute have recognized the
following environmental crimes: Illegal wildlife trade in endangered
species in contravention to the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES); Smuggling of
ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in contravention to the 1987 Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer;
Dumping and illicit trade in hazardous waste
in contravention of the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Other Wastes and their
Disposal; Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in contravention to
controls imposed by various regional fisheries management organisations;
Illegal logging and the associated trade in stolen timber in violation of
national laws.
These crimes are liable for
prosecution. Interpol facilitates international police cooperation
and assists its member countries in the effective enforcement of national
and international environmental laws and treaties. Interpol began fighting
environmental crime in 1992.
9 out of 10 or 92 Percent Of The World's Population Breathes Substandard
Air. Nearly 600,000 Children under 5 Die From Breathing Toxic Air Every
Year.
Children and teens exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution
have evidence of a specific type of DNA damage called
telomere shortening.
Curbing air pollution control devices would cost thousands of lives and
billions of dollars. A new commentary found that power plants' use of
these devices saved up to 9,100 lives and up to $100 billion in health
costs in 2023. These estimates reveal the substantial health benefits that
could be at stake if the next presidential administration implements
policies that aim to weaken the Clean Air Act and limit the regulatory
authority of the EPA.
Researchers tap rare pristine air to reveal pollution's impact.
Human-caused pollution spurs the production of climate-changing particles
known as secondary organic aerosols much more than previously thought.
Researchers made the finding by analyzing air samples that were captured
aboard a research aircraft as it zigzagged between pristine air over the
Amazon rainforest and polluted air over the nearby city of Manaus. It was
like a trip back (and forth) through time, as scientists weaved between
the two vastly different settings.
Secondary Organic Aerosol is a molecule produced via oxidation over
several generations of a parent organic molecule. In contrast to primary
organic
aerosols, which are emitted directly from the
biosphere, secondary
organic aerosols are formed via
homogeneous nucleation through the successive oxidation of gas-phase
organic compounds. These
gas-phase species exert high vapor pressures,
meaning they are volatile and stable in the gas-phase, however, upon
oxidation, the increased polarity of the molecules results in a reduction
of vapor pressure. After sufficient oxidation, the vapor pressure is
sufficiently low that the gas-phase compound partitions into the
solid-phase, producing secondary organic matter. SOAs represent a
significant proportion of aerosols contained in the troposphere. A common
misconception is that the aerosol refers to the solid phase of the
compound, where in reality, by definition, it is the combination of the
gas- and solid-phases which constitute the aerosol.
Atmospheric Radiation
Measurement Research Facility
Air Pollution Exposure on Home-to-School Walking Routes Reduces the Growth
of Working Memory in Children
People who live close to high-traffic roadways face a higher risk of
developing
dementia than those who live further away.
Air Quality Maps -
Air Quality Alerts
Indoor Air Quality Monitors (air filters)
Household Air Pollution and Health
Outline of Air Pollution Dispersion is the distribution of air
pollution into the atmosphere. Air pollution is the introduction of
particulates, biological molecules, or other harmful materials into
Earth's atmosphere, causing disease, death to humans, damage to other
living organisms such as food crops, or the natural or built environment.
Air pollution may come from anthropogenic or natural sources. Dispersion
refers to what happens to the pollution during and after its introduction;
understanding this may help in identifying and controlling it. Air
pollution dispersion has become the focus of environmental
conservationists and governmental environmental protection agencies
(local, state, province and national) of many countries (which have
adopted and used much of the terminology of this field in their laws and
regulations) regarding air pollution control.
Rolling Coal is the practice of modifying a diesel engine to
increase the amount of fuel entering the engine in order to emit large
amounts of black or grey sooty exhaust fumes into the air. It also may
include the intentional removal of the particulate filter. Practitioners
often additionally modify their vehicles by installing smoke switches and
smoke stacks. Modifications to a vehicle to enable rolling coal may cost
from $200 to $5,000.
Study shows how Air Pollution fosters Heart DiseaseAir
Pollution Particles Linked To
Alzheimer's Found In Human Brain: Nanoparticles, linked to
neurodegenerative diseases, are found in the human brain - and appear to
come from an outside source.
Alzheimer's disease
could be triggered by heavy air pollution, new research suggests -
TomoNews (youtube).
American Lung Association
Electric Cars -
Alternate Fuel Cars
Clean Air
Council
National
Association of Clean Air Agencies
Infrared camera
reveals 'invisible' air pollution (youtube)
More Causes of Death
Health Risks from Wildfires in U.S. climate change will expose tens of
millions of Americans to high levels of air pollution in the coming
decades. Air pollution from past and projected future wildfires in 561
western counties, and found that by mid-century more than 82 million
people will experience “smoke waves,” or consecutive days with high air
pollution related to
Fires.
Wood Stoves.
Adoption of electric vehicles can improve air quality and human health.
Large-scale adoption of EVs in the U.S. market, coupled with ambitious
grid decarbonization, could result in more than US $100 billion in health
benefits by 2050.
US air pollution monitoring network has gaps in coverage, say researchers.
The lack of air-quality monitoring capabilities across the U.S. affects
the health of millions of people and disproportionately impacts minority
and low socioeconomic-status communities, say researchers. Motivated by a
new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard for air pollution,
the team employed a model for fine-scale
air pollution
mapping using real-world data, and it indicates there is an urgent
need to address gaps in the agency's monitoring network.
Particulate Matter
Particulates are microscopic solid or liquid matter
suspended in the Earth's
atmosphere. Also known as
particulate matter
or PM., Suspended particulate matter or SPM, Thoracic and respirable
particles.
Inhalable coarse
particles are particles with a
diameter between 2.5 and 10 micrometres (µm). Fine particles have a
diameter of 2.5 µm or less. Ultrafine particles are even smaller.
PM stands for
particulate matter (also called particle pollution):
the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the
air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt,
soot, or
smoke, are large or dark
enough to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be
detected using an electron microscope.
Particle pollution includes:
PM10 : inhalable particles, with
diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller; and
PM2.5 :
fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5
micrometers and
smaller. How small is 2.5 micrometers? Think about a
single hair from your head. The average human hair is about 70 micrometers
in diameter – making it 30 times larger than the largest fine particle. Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that
are so small that they
can be inhaled and cause serious health problems.
Some particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter can get deep into your
lungs and some may even get into your bloodstream. Of these, particles
less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, also known as fine particles or
PM2.5, pose the greatest risk to health.
Fine particles are also
the main cause of reduced visibility (haze) in parts of the United States,
including many of our treasured national parks and wilderness areas. EPA regulates inhalable particles. Particles of
sand and large dust,
which are larger than 10 micrometers, are not regulated by EPA.
EPA’s national and regional rules to reduce emissions of pollutants that
form PM will help state and local governments meet the Agency’s national
air quality standards.
Smoke -
Haze.
More than 80% of the world’s urban population lives in areas
where air quality does not meet standards set by the World
Health Organization.
Association between neighborhood air pollution concentrations
and dispensed medication for psychiatric disorders in a large
longitudinal cohort of Swedish children and adolescents.
Nearly 138.5 million Americans, nearly 44 percent, are inhaling
unhealthy air.
Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 means microscopic particles
about 25 times thinner than a human hair; they can be dust,
dirt, soot, smoke or liquid droplets.
Ground-level ozone can trigger asthma attacks.
Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool.
NASA Satellite Maps Show Human Fingerprint on Global Air Quality
Global Air Quality: the Impact of People and Cities
Air Quality
Maps
India's Smog Destroyed Enough Crops In A Year To Feed 94 Million
People, worth an estimated $1.3 billion.
The top four the 20 worst polluted cities worldwide are in
India. Delhi is now the most polluted major city.
India has the highest rate of deaths caused by respiratory
disease. Indian air quality standards would save 2.1 billion
life-years.
If India curbs the
pollution and meets its air quality
standards, those 660 million people would add some 3.2 years
onto their lives.
MILAN -
Bicyclists had free rein of Milan's streets Monday during a
six-hour ban on private cars in a bid to alleviate persistent
smog. Health officials say vehicle emissions account for half of
the pollution in Milan and 70 percent in Rome, and that the high
pollution levels have increased reports of acute cardiovascular
disease in recent days.
Pollution levels in Italy's business capital have exceeded
levels considered healthy for more than 30 days straight,
prompting officials to ban private cars from 10 a.m. until 4
p.m. Monday through Wednesday this week.
Rome, which is also battling smog, has been enforcing alternate
day driving based on odd and even numbers on license plates,
while Florence has announced limits on automobile access to the
historic center through New Year's Eve.
Ozone - O3 - Ground Level
Ozone
or
O3 is a gas composed of three atoms of
oxygen. Ozone occurs both in the
Earth's upper
atmosphere and at ground level.
Ozone can be good or bad,
depending on where it is found.
Stratospheric ozone
is good ozone that occurs
naturally in the upper atmosphere, where it forms a protective layer that
shields us from the sun's harmful
ultraviolet rays. This beneficial ozone
has been partially destroyed by manmade chemicals, causing what is
sometimes called a "
hole in the ozone." The
good news is, this hole is diminishing.
Ozone
at ground level is a harmful air pollutant, because of its effects on
people and the environment, and it is the main ingredient in “smog."
How does ground-level ozone form?
Tropospheric, or ground level ozone, is not emitted directly into the air,
but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen or NOx and
volatile organic compounds or VOC. This happens when pollutants emitted by
cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and
other sources chemically react in the presence of sunlight. Ozone
is most likely to reach unhealthy levels on hot sunny days in urban
environments, but can still reach high levels during colder months. Ozone
can also be transported long distances by wind, so even rural areas can
experience high ozone levels.
What are the health effects of
ozone? Ozone in the
air we breathe can harm our health. People most
at risk from breathing air containing ozone include people with asthma,
children, older adults, and people who are active outdoors, especially
outdoor workers. In addition, people with certain genetic characteristics,
and people with reduced intake of certain nutrients, such as vitamins C
and E, are at greater risk from ozone exposure. Breathing ozone can
trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing,
throat irritation, and airway inflammation. It also can reduce lung
function and harm lung tissue. Ozone can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and
asthma, leading to increased medical care.
What are the
environmental effects of ozone? Ozone affects sensitive vegetation
and ecosystems, including forests, parks, wildlife refuges and wilderness
areas. In particular, ozone harms sensitive vegetation during the growing
season. Ozone is one of the six common air pollutants identified in
the Clean Air Act. EPA calls these “criteria air pollutants” because their
levels in outdoor air need to be limited based on health criteria.
There are national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for each of the
criteria pollutants. These standards apply to the concentration of a
pollutant in outdoor air. After working with the states and tribes
and considering the information from air quality monitors, EPA
"designates" an area as attainment or nonattainment with national ambient
air quality standards. If the air quality in a geographic area meets or
does better than the national standard, it is called an attainment area;
areas that don't meet the national standard are called nonattainment areas. In order to improve air quality, states must draft a plan known as a
state implementation plan (SIP) to improve the air quality in
nonattainment areas. The plan outlines the measures that the state will
take in order to improve air quality. Once a nonattainment area meets the
standards, EPA will designate the area as a "maintenance area." EPA’s
national and regional rules to reduce emissions of pollutants that form
ground level ozone will help state and local governments meet the Agency’s
national air quality standards. Actions include vehicle and transportation
standards, regional haze and visibility rules, and regular reviews of the
NAAQS. Learn more about ozone standards.
Ozone or trioxygen, is
an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula
O3. It is a pale blue gas
with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is
much less stable than the diatomic allotrope O2, breaking down in the
lower atmosphere to O2 (dioxygen). Ozone is formed from dioxygen by the
action of
ultraviolet or UV light and
electrical discharges within the Earth's atmosphere. It is present in very
low concentrations throughout the latter, with its highest concentration
high in the ozone layer of the stratosphere, which absorbs most of the
Sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Ozone's odour is reminiscent of
chlorine, and detectable by many people at concentrations of as little as
0.1 ppm in air. Ozone's O3 structure was determined in 1865. The molecule
was later proven to have a bent structure and to be weakly paramagnetic.
In standard conditions, ozone is a pale blue gas that condenses at
cryogenic temperatures to a dark blue liquid and finally a violet-black
solid. Ozone's instability with regard to more common dioxygen is such
that both concentrated gas and liquid ozone may decompose explosively at
elevated temperatures or fast warming to the boiling point. It is
therefore used commercially only in low concentrations. Ozone is a
powerful oxidant (far more so than dioxygen) and has many industrial and
consumer applications related to oxidation. This same high oxidizing
potential, however, causes ozone to damage mucous and respiratory tissues
in animals, and also tissues in plants, and above concentrations of about
0.1 ppm. While this makes ozone a potent respiratory hazard and pollutant
near ground level, a higher concentration in the ozone layer (from two to
eight ppm) is beneficial, preventing damaging UV light from reaching the
Earth's surface.
Cutting HFCs to cool the Earth. To have a better chance of holding
global warming to 1.5°C, we need to accelerate the phase-down of HFC
refrigerants under the Montreal Protocol. This could also reduce pollution
and improve energy access. An air conditioner may freshen the atmosphere
in your home, but in doing so, it is probably degrading the atmosphere of
Earth. Along with other cooling technologies such as refrigerators and
heat pumps, today's aircon commonly relies on chemicals called HFCs (
hydrofluorocarbons),
which are very powerful greenhouse gases. HFCs have been used to replace
ozone-depleting substances, and their emissions have increased rapidly in
the past two decades. HFCs can be replaced with various gases that have a
far lower climate impact per kilogram, including ammonia, CO2, and
hydrocarbons such as propane.
Ozone may be heating the planet more than we realize. Ozone in the
atmosphere found to have weakened one of
Earth's main
cooling mechanisms.
Ozone pollution threatens plant health and makes it harder for pollinators
to find flowers. Over the past decades, rising levels of ozone
pollution have been interrupting pollination, impacting the livelihood of
both plants and the animals that pollinate them. Researchers now explain
how an excess of ground-level ozone can damage plant foliage, change
plants' flowering patterns, and act as a barrier to pollinators finding
blooms.
The National Emissions Inventory or
NEI
is a comprehensive and detailed
estimate of air emissions of criteria pollutants, criteria precursors,
and
hazardous air pollutants from air emissions
sources. The NEI is released every three years based primarily upon
data provided by State, Local, and Tribal air agencies for sources in
their jurisdictions and supplemented by data developed by the US EPA. The
NEI is built using the Emissions Inventory System (EIS) first to collect
the data from State, Local, and Tribal air agencies and then to blend that
data with other data.
NEI point sources
include include large industrial facilities and electric power plants,
airports, and smaller industrial, non-industrial and commercial
facilities. A small number of portable sources such as some asphalt or
rock crushing operations are also included.
NEI
non-point sources include residential heating, commercial
combustion, asphalt paving, and commercial and consumer solvent use.
NEI on road sources include emissions from
onroad vehicles that use gasoline, diesel, and other fuels. These sources
include light duty and heavy duty vehicle emissions from operation on
roads, highway ramps, and during idling.
NEI non
road sources include off-road mobile sources that use gasoline,
diesel, and other fuels. Source types include construction equipment, lawn
and garden equipment, aircraft ground support equipment, locomotives, and
commercial marine vessels.
NEI "event" sources
include fires that are reported in a day-specific format: wildfires and
prescribed burns. Generally, the US EPA calculates these emissions using a
satellite detection approach combined with fire models and activity data
provide by State, Local, and Tribal air agencies or forestry agencies.
Human-Made Ozone is a result of
air
pollution from internal combustion engines and power plants. Automobile
exhaust and industrial emissions release a family of nitrogen oxide gases
(NOx) and
volatile organic compounds
(VOC), by-products of burning gasoline and coal.
Tropospheric or
ground-level
ozone –
what we breathe – is formed primarily from photochemical reactions between
two major classes of air pollutants, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and
nitrogen oxides (NOx). Human-made ozone at ground-level
inhibits plant photosynthesis by directly
damaging some of the plant cells responsible for it. reducing unhealthy
pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
A 50% reduction in ozone pollution from just the transportation and energy
sectors resulted in an increase in photosynthesis equivalent to the amount
of carbon lost by fire each year.
Tropospheric
Ozone. Ozone or O3 is a trace gas of the troposphere, with an average
concentration of 20–30 parts per billion by volume (ppbv), with close to
100 ppbv in polluted areas. Ozone is also an important constituent of the
stratosphere, where the ozone layer exists which is located between 10 and
50 kilometers above the earths surface. The troposphere is the lowest
layer of the Earth's atmosphere. It extends from the ground up to a
variable height of approximately 14 kilometers above sea level. Ozone is
least concentrated in the ground layer (or planetary boundary layer) of
the troposphere. Ground level or tropospheric ozone is created by chemical
reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx gases) and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs). The combination of these chemicals in the presence of
sunlight form ozone. Its concentration increases as height above sea level
increases, with a maximum concentration at the tropopause. About 90% of
total ozone in the atmosphere is in the stratosphere, and 10% is in the
troposphere. Although tropospheric ozone is less concentrated than
stratospheric ozone, it is of concern because of its health effects. Ozone
in the troposphere is considered a greenhouse gas, and may contribute to
global warming. Photochemical and chemical reactions involving ozone drive
many of the chemical processes that occur in the troposphere by day and by
night. At abnormally high concentrations (the largest source being
emissions from combustion of fossil fuels), it is a pollutant, and a
constituent of smog. Its levels have increased significantly since the
industrial revolution, as NOx gasses & VOCs are some of the byproducts of
combustion. With more heat and sunlight in the summer months, more ozone
is formed which is why regions often experience higher levels of pollution
in the summer months. Although the same molecule, ground level ozone can
be harmful to our health, unlike stratospheric ozone that protects the
earth from excess UV radiation. Photolysis of ozone occurs at wavelengths
below approximately 310–320 nanometres. This reaction initiates the chain
of chemical reactions that remove carbon monoxide, methane, and other
hydrocarbons from the atmosphere via oxidation. Therefore, the
concentration of tropospheric ozone affects how long these compounds
remain in the air. If the oxidation of carbon monoxide or methane occur in
the presence of nitrogen monoxide (NO), this chain of reactions has a net
product of ozone added to the system.
Ground-Level Ozone is a colorless and highly irritating gas that forms
just above the earth's surface. It is called a "secondary" pollutant
because it is produced when two primary pollutants react in sunlight and
stagnant air. These two primary pollutants are nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Ozone Air Pollution are a group of
pollutants, predominantly
those emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels.
Ozone Pollution -
Ozone-Pollution (EPA)
Avgas
is an aviation fuel used in spark-ignited internal-combustion engines to propel aircraft.
Leaded Gasoline used in piston-engine Airplanes
-
Once burned and emitted from the tail of a car or plane,
lead from gasoline can contaminate not only the air but also
waterways, livestock, crops and soil. What's more, the metal
doesn't dissipate in the environment. The EPA reports increases
in lead concentrations near airports that host piston-engine planes,
including the Santa Monica Airport. The agency also echoes the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's warning that
there is no safe level of lead exposure, and it estimates that
16 million people live, and more than 3 million children attend school,
within a kilometer of airports where avgas is used.
Coal
Coal
supplies
over 40 percent of global electricity needs. 1,200 big new coal facilities in 59
countries are proposed for construction, 7,000 coal-fired power
plants, including almost 600 in the US.. 7.6 billion tons of coal consumed worldwide last
year in 2014.
2 pounds of
carbon dioxide emitted for each kilowatt-hour of
electricity generated via coal. 1 billion tons of coal used in
global industrial steel production each year. At the moment
there are Zero alternatives to coal in the industrial
steel-making process.
44 degrees Fahrenheit is the potential average global
temperature rise if all remaining coal were burned.
That means we're all dead.
U.S. Coal Production Peaked in 2008.
Coal: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (youtube, 24 mins.)
Coal jobs have been declining since 1923, mostly because of
automation
and the fact that there are
other energy sources.
China
China is the largest emitter of green house gases, more then
Europe and north America combined. China already emits
one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases, more than any other
country. 16 million tons of carbon every year. Outdoor air
pollution annually contributes to about 1.2 million premature
deaths in China. 70% of china's energy comes from coal. China
consumes half of the worlds coal. China builds a new coal
burning plant every week. Every second 100 tons of coal are
burned. 3 billion tons a year. But china only uses 1 fifth of
the electricity then the average American. More than
three-quarters of China’s electricity comes from coal. China's
energy demand has tripled in the last 20 years. China Produces
480 tons of garbage every minute. 1 in 5 people live in china.
China sells 35,000 cars a day. China builds 1,800 new cars in
one hour. China has 160 cities with a million people or more.
Chongqing
has over 30 million people. By 2025 will have 10 NYC size
cities. Half of the worlds buildings that are built are built in China.
Bouts of acrid smog enveloping Beijing prompted authorities in
the Chinese capital to declare two unprecedented "red alerts" in
December 2015 — a warning to the city's 22 million inhabitants
that heavy pollution is expected for more than three days.
China has done a
ton of building in the developing world. Over the past two decades, it
has financed and built bridges, hospitals, roads, railways, airports and
seaports — many billions of dollars' worth and counting. "China has
recently become a major financier of economic infrastructure," according
to a new report from
AidData, a development finance research lab based at the College of
William & Mary.
China is building six times more new coal plants than other countries,
report finds. China permitted more coal power plants last year than any
time in the last seven years, according to a
new report released this week. It's the equivalent of about two new
coal power plants per week. The report by energy data organizations Global
Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on
Energy and Clean
Air finds the country quadrupled the amount of new coal power
approvals in
2022 compared to 2021.
A safe level of
airborne particulate matter,
air quality index, measures 25 micrograms per cubic meter.
Beijing's index hit 608, that is more than 24 times the safe
level estimated by the
WHO.
Air Quality Reports -
Smoke -
Climate Change
China, 4,400 people die from air
pollution each day, according to an August 2015 study by the
U.S. nonprofit Berkeley Earth.
Pure
Science Specials - Green China Rising (youtube 05/13/2013 |
45 min.)
Renewable Clean Energy Progress Reports
Smog Free Project
-
Glowing Lines
More than 46.2 million people (14.7%) in the United States live
in an area with unhealthful year-round levels of particle pollution.
Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution
1. Bakersfield, California.
2. Fresno-Madera, California.
3. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California.
4. Modesto-Merced, California.
5. Fairbanks, Alaska.
6. Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah.
7. Logan, Utah-Idaho.
8. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California.
9. Los Angeles-Long Beach, California.
10. Missoula, Montana.
Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution
1. Bakersfield, California.
2. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California.
3. Fresno-Madera, California.
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach, California.
5. El Centro, California.
6. Modesto-Merced, California.
7. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California.
8. Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, Pennsylvania-Ohio-West
Virginia.
9. Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
10. Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Madison, Kentucky-Indiana.
Top 10 Most Ozone-Polluted Cities
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, California.
2. Bakersfield, California.
3. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, California.
4. Fresno-Madera, California.
5. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona.
6. Sacramento-Roseville, California.
7. Modesto-Merced, California.
8. Denver-Aurora, Colorado.
9. Las Vegas-Henderson, Nevada-Arizona.
10. Fort Collins, Colorado.
Carbon Capture - CO2 Storage - Make the Planet Cool Again
Carbon Dioxide or
CO2, is a
carbon atom
covalently double
bonded to two
oxygen atoms. A colorless
and odorless
gas that is vital to life on Earth. Carbon dioxide is a
significant
greenhouse gas. Since the
industrial revolution, the
burning of carbon-based fossil fuels and land
use changes such as
deforestation, have rapidly
increased CO2
concentration in the
atmosphere, leading to
global warming. Carbon dioxide
also causes
ocean acidification because it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid.
Ocean's worldwide
oxygen content declined by more than 2% between 1960 and 2010.
Conversion.
As Carbon-Dioxide levels Rise, it could affect
Human Cognition. 400-1,000ppm are concentrations typical of occupied
indoor spaces with
good air exchange. 1,000-2,000ppm is when complaints of drowsiness and
poor air happens. 2,000-5,000 ppm is when headaches, sleepiness and
stagnant, stale, stuffy air happens. Poor concentration, loss of
attention, increased heart rate and slight nausea may also be present.
Offsets.
Fastest Rate of Carbon Dioxide rise over the last 50,000 years.
Today's rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase is 10 times faster
than at any other point in the past 50,000 years, researchers have found
through a detailed chemical analysis of ancient Antarctic ice.
Carbon Monoxide or
CO, is a colorless,
odorless, and
tasteless gas that is slightly less dense than
Air. It is
toxic to hemoglobic animals (both invertebrate and vertebrate, including
humans) when encountered in concentrations above about 35 ppm, although it
is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is
thought to have some normal biological functions. In the atmosphere, it is
spatially variable and short lived, having a role in the formation of
ground-level ozone. Carbon monoxide consists of one
carbon atom and one
oxygen atom, connected by a triple bond that consists of two covalent
bonds as well as one dative covalent bond. It is the simplest oxocarbon
and is isoelectronic with the cyanide anion, the nitrosonium cation and
molecular nitrogen. In coordination complexes the carbon monoxide ligand
is called carbonyl. Carbon monoxide is killing public housing residents,
but HUD doesn’t require
Carbon Monoxide Detectors.
Carbon
Monoxide Poisoning typically occurs from inhaling carbon monoxide (CO)
at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and
commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and
confusion. Large exposures can result in loss of consciousness,
arrhythmias, seizures, or death. The classically described "cherry red
skin" rarely occurs. Long term complications may include feeling tired,
trouble with memory, and movement problems. In those exposed to smoke,
cyanide toxicity should also be considered.
Symptoms of carbon
monoxide poisoning include a pressure on your chest, auditory
hallucinations — whoosh — and an unexplained feeling of
dread.
Air -
Scuba Diving.
Carbon Capture and Storage is the process of capturing waste
carbon dioxide or CO2 from large point sources, such as fossil
fuel power plants, transporting it to a storage site, and
depositing it where it will not enter the atmosphere, normally
an underground geological formation.
Methane
-
Warming
Next-Gen Membranes for Carbon Capture. Carbon capture can be done
using so-called "high-performance membranes," which are polymer filters
that can specifically pick out CO2 from a mix of gases, such as those
coming out of a factory's flue. These membranes are
environmentally-friendly, they don't generate waste, they can intensify
chemical processes, and can be used in a decentralized fashion. In fact,
they are now considered as one of the most energy-efficient routes for
reducing CO2 emissions. Current membranes are required to exceed 1000 gas
permeation units (GPUs), and have a "CO2/N2 separation factor" above 20 --
a measure of their carbon-capturing specificity. The membranes that the
EPFL scientists developed show six-fold higher CO2 permeance at 6,180 GPUs
with a separation factor of 22.5. The GPUs shot up to 11,790 when the
scientists combined optimized graphene porosity, pore size, and functional
groups (the chemical groups that actually react with CO2), while other
membranes they made showed separation factors up to 57.2. "Functionalizing
CO2-selective polymeric chains on nanoporous graphene allows us to
fabricate nanometer-thick yet CO2-selective membranes," says Agrawal.
"This two-dimensional nature of the membrane drastically increases the CO2
permeance, making membranes even more attractive for carbon capture. The
concept is highly generic, and a number of high-performance gas
separations are possible in this way."
The Reality of
Carbon Capture (youtube) - There are some natural approaches starting
to get attention that could not only
sequester carbon from the atmosphere, but also improve our food
production, reduce erosion, and many other benefits.
Bio-Char.
Engineers go microbial to store energy, sequester CO2. By borrowing
nature's blueprints for
photosynthesis,
bioengineers have found a way to efficiently absorb and store large-scale,
low-cost renewable energy from the sun - while sequestering atmospheric
carbon dioxide to use later as a
biofuel.
Fertilizing the ocean to store carbon dioxide. Iron-based fertilizer,
engineered into
nanoparticles, could
help store excess carbon dioxide in the ocean. The goal would be to feed
phytoplankton, microscopic plants that are a key part of the ocean
ecosystem, to encourage growth and carbon dioxide or CO2 uptake. The
analysis article appears in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Adapting to hypoxia: Zooplankton influence the efficiency of the
biological carbon pump in the Humboldt Current off Peru. Marine organisms
play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Phytoplankton absorb
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in organic matter that
sinks to the deep ocean where it can be stored for long periods of time.
Until now, this process -- the biological carbon pump -- was thought to be
particularly efficient in oxygen-poor areas. A new study suggests that the
influence of certain zooplankton species on the biological carbon pump has
been underestimated.
Paradox
The ocean may be storing more carbon than estimated in earlier studies.
The ocean's capacity to store atmospheric carbon dioxide is some 20%
greater than the estimates contained in the latest IPCC report. Scientists
looked at the role played by plankton in the natural transport of carbon
from surface waters down to the seabed. Plankton gobble up carbon dioxide
and, as they grow, convert it into organic tissue via photosynthesis. The
resulting new estimate of carbon storage capacity is 15 gigatonnes per
year, an increase of around 20% compared with previous studies (11
gigatonnes per year) published by the IPCC in its 2021 report.
Fjords, small in size and number, are significant carbon reservoirs.
Fjords comprise a mere 0.1 percent of the surface area of the ocean yet
store a whopping 11-12 percent of the carbon stored in the ocean. New
research shows they sock away 18 million tons of carbon during
interglacial periods, like the one we're in now.
A synthetic pathway for the fixation of carbon dioxide in vitro.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important carbon feedstock for a future green
economy. This requires the development of efficient strategies for its
conversion into multi-carbon compounds. Here, we describe a synthetic
cycle for the continuous fixation of CO2 in vitro. The crotonyl-CoA/ethylmalonyl-CoA/hydroxybutyryl-CoA
(CETCH) cycle is a reaction network of 17 enzymes that converts CO2 into
organic molecules at a rate of 5 nmol CO2 min-1 mg-1 protein. The
CETCH cycle was drafted by metabolic retrosynthesis, established
with enzymes originating from nine different organisms of all three
domains of life and optimized in several rounds by enzyme engineering and
metabolic proofreading. The CETCH cycle expands the six naturally evolved
CO2-fixation pathways by a seventh, synthetic alternative, opening the way
for in vitro and in vivo-applications. Every year more than 350 gigatons
CO2 are transformed by Nature in a sustainable process called autotrophic
CO2-fixation. More than 90% of the carbon is fixed by the Calvin-Benson-Bassham
(CBB) cycle in plants, algae and microorganisms. The rest is converted
through alternative autotrophic CO2-fixation pathways (1, 2). Despite this
naturally existing diversity, the application of CO2-fixing enzymes and
pathways for converting CO2 into multi-carbon, value-added products has
been limited so far in chemistry (3, 4) and biotechnology (5). First,
natural CO2-fixation delivers mainly biomass and not a dedicated product.
Moreover, under optimal conditions biological CO2-fixation is often
directly affected by the inefficiency of the CO2-fixing enzymes and
pathways. The CBB cycle`s carboxylase ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate
carboxylase/oxidase (RubisCO) for instance is a slow catalyst that shows a
strong side reaction with oxygen, which leads to the loss of fixed carbon
and thus
photosynthetic energy by up to 30% in a process called
photorespiration (6).
Artificial
Chloroplasts. Nature shows us how to ditch petrochemicals! (youtube) -
Just Have A
Think.
Geoscientists map changes in atmospheric CO2 over past 66 million years.
Today's concentration, 420 parts per million, is higher than it's ever
been in 14 million years.
Scientist maps CO2 emissions for entire US to improve environmental
policymaking.
America's wealthiest 10% responsible for 40% of US greenhouse gas
emissions. A new study reveals that the wealthiest Americans, those
whose income places them in the top 10% of earners, are responsible for
40% of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions. The study links
income, especially income derived from financial investments, to the
emissions used in generating that income. The authors suggest that
policymakers adopt taxes focused on shareholders and the carbon intensity
of investment incomes in order to equitably meet the goal of keeping the
global temperature to 1.5 C of warming.
Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions Rise in 2018 even as coal wanes and
Renewables Boom. Fossil fuel emissions have climbed for a second
straight year, driven by growing energy use.
Capturing CO2 from Trucks and Reducing their Emissions by 90%.
Researchers have patented a new concept that could cut trucks' CO2
emissions by almost 90%. It involves capturing CO2 within the exhaust
system, converting it into a liquid and storing it on the vehicle. The
liquid CO2 would then be delivered to a service station and where it will
be turned back into fuel using renewable energy.
Netpower
natural gas power plant with no carbon emissions or air pollution
generates lower-cost electricity from fossil fuels than current power
systems while producing zero air emissions.
Carbon Dioxide Scrubber is a device which absorbs carbon dioxide
(CO2). It is used to treat exhaust gases from industrial plants or from
exhaled air in life support systems such as rebreathers or in spacecraft,
submersible craft or airtight chambers. Carbon dioxide scrubbers are also
used in controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. They have also been researched
for carbon capture.
MIT engineers develop a new way to remove carbon dioxide from air.
Direct Air Capture industrial plant can be placed in any country and
in multiple climates, and can be built to capture one million tons of CO2
per year.
Direct Air Capture (wiki).
Carbon Dioxide Removal refers to a number of technologies of which the
objective is the large-scale removal of carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. Among such technologies are bio-energy with carbon capture and
storage, biochar, ocean fertilization, enhanced weathering, and direct air
capture when combined with storage. CDR is a different approach than
removing CO2 from the stack emissions of large fossil fuel point sources,
such as power stations. The latter reduces emission to the atmosphere but
cannot reduce the amount of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. As
CDR removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it 'creates' negative
emissions that offset the emissions from small and dispersed point sources
such as domestic heating systems, airplanes and vehicle exhausts. It is
regarded by some as a form of climate engineering, while other
commentators describe it as a form of carbon capture and storage or
extreme mitigation. Whether CDR would satisfy common definitions of
"climate engineering" or "geoengineering" usually depends upon the scale
at which it would be undertaken.
New technology creates carbon neutral chemicals out of thin air. It is
possible to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surrounding atmosphere
and repurpose it into useful chemicals usually made from fossil fuels,
according to a new study. The technology uses patent-pending switchable
Dual Function Materials (DFMs), that capture carbon dioxide on their
surface and catalyse the conversion of captured CO2 directly into
chemicals. The "switchable" nature of the DFMs comes from their ability to
produce multiple chemicals depending on the operating conditions or the
composition of the added reactant. This makes the technology responsive to
variations in demand for chemicals as well as availability of renewable
hydrogen as a reactant.
Solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste
into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products.
A new strategy for the optimal electroreduction of Co2 to high-value
products. Researchers suggest that modulation of local CO2
concentration improves the selectivity, conversion rate, and electrode
stability, and shed a new light on the electrochemical CO2 reduction
technology for controlling emissions at a low cost.
Geo-Engineering or
Climate Engineering is the deliberate and
large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate
system, usually with the aim of mitigating the adverse effects of
global
warming. Climate engineering is an umbrella term for measures that mainly
fall into two categories:
greenhouse gas removal and
solar radiation
management. Greenhouse gas removal approaches, of which carbon dioxide
removal represents the most prominent subcategory addresses the cause of
global warming by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Solar
radiation management attempts to offset effects of greenhouse gases by
causing the Earth to absorb less solar radiation.
Carbon Engineering.
Terraforming -
Planetary Engineering
Humans are already geo-engineering planet earth. Humans are warming
the planet by releasing CO2 into the air. So we need to do the opposite.
Stop producing CO2 and remove the CO2 that we have added. We also need to
do things that will help cool the planet if it gets to hot. Every
passenger jet and vehicle should be electric. Jets should scrub CO2 and
also reduce
cirrus clouds. People should also be given
incentives to reduce pollution and live a more sustainable lifestyle that
is healthy and prosperous.
Solar Geo-Engineering may be effective in alleviating impacts of global
warming on crops. Solar geoengineering is putting aerosols into the
atmosphere to reflect sunlight and reduce global warming.
Cirrus Cloud Thinning is a proposed form of climate engineering.
Cirrus clouds are high cold ice that, like other clouds, both reflect
sunlight and absorb warming infrared radiation. However, they differ from
other types of clouds in that, on average, infrared absorption outweighs
sunlight reflection, resulting in a net warming effect on the climate.
Therefore, thinning or removing these clouds would reduce their heat
trapping capacity, resulting in a cooling effect on Earth's climate. This
could be a potential tool to reduce anthropogenic global warming. Cirrus
cloud thinning is an alternative category of climate engineering, in
addition to solar radiation management and greenhouse gas removal.
Contrail cirrus clouds have two competing effects on climate. They shade
us by reflecting incoming sunlight back into space. But they also trap
heat radiating from the earth's surface, so causing warming in the air
below. During the day, cooling compensates part of the warming.
Climate Change Mitigation consists of actions to limit the magnitude
or rate of long-term global warming and its related effects. Climate
change mitigation generally involves reductions in human (anthropogenic)
emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Mitigation may also be achieved by
increasing the capacity of carbon sinks, e.g., through reforestation.
Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with
human-induced global warming. Examples of mitigation include reducing
energy demand by increasing energy efficiency, phasing out fossil fuels by
switching to low-carbon energy sources, and removing carbon dioxide from
Earth's atmosphere. for example, through improved building insulation.
Another approach to climate change mitigation is climate engineering.
Farming Kelp to
fight climate change. The Oil Industry In Reverse -
Ocean Visions.
Remember that Ozone Problem that we had?
We still have it.
If we did not fix that we would all be dead. Looks like we have another problem
to solve called climate change. Remember
Leaded Gas and the
Clean Air Act and the
National Emissions Standards Act in 1963. 72% reduction for
hydrocarbons, 56% reduction for carbon monoxide, and 100% reduction for
crankcase hydrocarbons.
Experts reveal major holes in international ozone treaty. Major holes
in ozone hole treaty must be addressed to avert stronger climate change
and serious risks to human health, experts warn.
Ozone Depletion consists of two related events observed since the late
1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of
ozone in Earth's atmosphere (the ozone layer), and a much larger
springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone around Earth's polar regions.
The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also
springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these
stratospheric events. The main cause of ozone depletion and the ozone hole
is manufactured chemicals, especially manufactured halocarbon
refrigerants, solvents, propellants and foam-blowing agents
(chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons), referred to as
ozone-depleting substances (ODS). These compounds are transported into the
stratosphere by turbulent mixing after being emitted from the surface,
mixing much faster than the molecules can settle. Once in the
stratosphere, they release halogen atoms through photodissociation, which
catalyze the breakdown of ozone (O3) into oxygen (O2). Both types of ozone
depletion were observed to increase as emissions of halocarbons increased.
Ozone depletion and the ozone hole have generated worldwide concern over
increased cancer risks and other negative effects. The ozone layer
prevents most harmful UVB wavelengths of ultraviolet light (UV light) from
passing through the Earth's atmosphere. These wavelengths cause skin
cancer, sunburn and cataracts, which were projected to increase
dramatically as a result of thinning ozone, as well as harming plants and
animals. These concerns led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in
1987, which bans the production of CFCs, halons and other ozone-depleting
chemicals. The ban came into effect in 1989. Ozone levels stabilized by
the mid-1990s and began to recover in the 2000s. Recovery is projected to
continue over the next century, and the ozone hole is expected to reach
pre-1980 levels by around 2075. The Montreal Protocol is considered the
most successful international environmental agreement to date.
Damage to the ozone layer and climate change forming feedback loop.
Blowing Bubbles to Catch Carbon Dioxide using a bio-inspired liquid
membrane that could make clean coal a reality.
Clime Works
remove CO2 directly from the air.
Net Power
lower-cost electricity from fossil fuels than current power systems while
producing
zero air emissions.
Global Thermostat
-
Warming Dangers (methane)
100 Solutions to Climate Change: Chad Frischmann (video and text)
More CO2 in the Air for Plants means a
Decrease of Nutrition in Food. Though having more carbon dioxide in the air yields 10 percent more crops,
when compared to plants in normal atmosphere,
they have five to
ten percent reductions in nutrients like iron, zinc, and
protein. 2 billion people already are getting too little iron
and zinc in their diets, and it's damaging their health.
Fortification -
Soil Damage -
Vertical Farming.
Corn and other crops are not adapted to benefit from elevated carbon
dioxide levels. Most plants like soybeans, rice, canola, and all
trees, are C3 because they fix CO2 first into a carbohydrate containing
three carbon atoms. Corn, sorghum, and sugarcane belong to a special group
of plants known as C4, so-called because they first fix CO2 into a
four-carbon carbohydrate during photosynthesis. On average, C4 crops are
60 percent more productive than C3 crops. When crops are grown in elevated
CO2 that mimic future atmospheric conditions, research shows that C3 crops
can become more productive while some experiments suggest that C4 crops
would be no more productive in a higher CO2 world.
Cleaner air has boosted US corn and soybean yields. The analysis
estimates pollution reductions between 1999 and 2019 contributed to about
20 percent of the increase in corn and soybean yield gains during that
period - an amount worth about $5 billion per year.
Land ecosystems are becoming less efficient at absorbing CO2. Land
ecosystems currently play a key role in mitigating climate change. The
more carbon dioxide plants and trees absorb during photosynthesis, the
process they use to make food, the less CO2 remains trapped in the
atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have
identified an unsettling trend - as levels of CO2 in the atmosphere
increase, 86 percent of land ecosystems globally are becoming
progressively less efficient at absorbing it. Because CO2 is a main
'ingredient' that plants need to grow, elevated concentrations of it cause
an increase in photosynthesis, and consequently, plant growth - a
phenomenon aptly referred to as the CO2 fertilization effect, or CFE. CFE
is considered a key factor in the response of vegetation to rising
atmospheric CO2 as well as an important mechanism for removing this potent
greenhouse gas from our atmosphere - but that may be changing. We have
found that since 1982, the global average CFE has decreased steadily from
21 percent to 12 percent per 100 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere. Without
this feedback between photosynthesis and elevated atmospheric CO2, we
would have seen climate change occurring at a much more rapid rate. But
scientists have been concerned about how long the CO2 Fertilization Effect
could be sustained before other limitations on plant growth kick in. While
an abundance of CO2 won't limit growth, a lack of water, nutrients, or
sunlight - the other necessary components of photosynthesis -- will.
Water Limitations in the Tropics Offset Carbon Uptake from Arctic Greening.
The Arctic melts when plants stop breathing. The vapor that plants
emit when they breathe serves to lower the land surface temperature, much
like watering the yard on a hot day. Until now, the greenhouse effect has
been blamed for the rise in global temperature. But an interesting study
has shown that the Artic temperature rises when the moisture released by
plants is reduced due to the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) in the
atmosphere. Plants take in
CO2 and emit
oxygen through photosynthesis. During this process, the stomata of leaves
open to absorb CO2 in the air and release moisture at the same time.
However, when the CO2 concentration rises, plants can absorb enough CO2
without opening their stomata widely. If the stomata open narrowly, the
amount of water vapor released also decreases. When this transpiration of
plants declines, the land temperature rapidly rises under greenhouse
warming. Recently, such a decrease in transpiration has been cited as one
of the reasons for the surge in heat waves in the northern hemisphere.
This response from the vegetation leads to the global climate change by
controlling the exchange of energy between the surface and atmosphere,
referred to as 'physiological forcing.' But so far, no study has confirmed
the effects of physiological forcing on the Arctic climate system. The
joint research team analyzed the EMS simulation and confirmed that the
increase in CO2 leads to stomatal closure in land vegetation causing land
warming, which in turn remotely speeds up Artic warming through an
atmospheric circulation and positive feedback in Earth systems process. In
addition, a quantitative estimate of the stomatal closure's effect on
Arctic warming due to increased CO2 showed that about 10% of the
greenhouse effect is caused by this physiological forcing.
How supercharged plants could slow climate change - Joanne Chory TED2019
(video) - Plants can be engineered to absorb more CO2 and sequester CO2
back into the soil where it can benefit nutrient depleted soil.
Suberin cutin and
lignins are complex, higher plant epidermis and periderm cell-wall
macromolecules, forming a protective barrier. Suberin, a complex polyester
biopolymer, is lipophilic, and composed of long chain fatty acids called
suberin acids, and glycerol. Suberins and lignins are considered
covalently linked to lipids and carbohydrates, respectively, and lignin is
covalently linked to suberin, and to a lesser extent, to cutin. Suberin is
a major constituent of cork, and is named after the cork oak, ''Quercus
suber''. Its main function is as a barrier to movement of water and
solutes.
Free-Air Concentration Enrichment is a method used by ecologists and
plant biologists that raises the concentration of CO2 in a specified area
and allows the response of plant growth to be measured. Experiments using
FACE are required because most studies looking at the effect of
elevated CO2 concentrations have been conducted in labs and where
there are many missing factors including plant competition. Measuring the
effect of elevated CO2 using FACE is a more natural way of estimating how
plant growth will change in the future as the CO2 concentration rises in
the atmosphere. FACE also allows the effect of elevated CO2 on plants that
cannot be grown in small spaces (trees for example) to be measured.
However, FACE experiments carry significantly higher costs relative to
greenhouse experiments.
Risk Perception.
We can convert
Atmospheric Carbon into
Soil Carbon. More carbon resides in soil than in the
atmosphere and all plant life combined; there are 2,500 billion
tons of carbon in soil, compared with 800 billion tons in the
atmosphere and 560 billion tons in plant and animal life. And
compared to many proposed geoengineering fixes,
storing carbon in soil is simple: It’s a matter of returning
carbon where it belongs. Through
Photosynthesis, a plant draws carbon out of the air to form
carbon compounds.
Bolstering soil microbiology by adding beneficial microbes to
stimulate the soil cycles where they have been interrupted by use of
insecticides, herbicides, or fertilizers.
Indoor
Air Monitors.
Soil Knowledge -
Biochar
Carbon Fixation or carbon assimilation refers to the
conversion process of inorganic carbon (carbon dioxide) to
organic compounds by living organisms.
Carbon
Sequestration is the process involved in carbon capture and
the long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).
Key to Speeding Up Carbon Sequestration Discovered by adding a common
enzyme to the mix, the researchers have found, can make that rate-limiting
part of the process go 500 times faster.
Scientists turn Carbon Dioxide back into Coal. New technique can
efficiently convert CO2 from gas into solid particles of carbon.
Magnesite is a mineral which can capture the greenhouse gas carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere, at room temperature.
Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula MgCO3 (magnesium
carbonate). Mixed crystals of iron(II) carbonate and magnesite (mixed
crystals known as ankerite) possess a layered structure: monolayers of
carbonate groups alternate with magnesium monolayers as well as iron(II)
carbonate monolayers. Manganese, cobalt and nickel may also occur in small
amounts.
Just 100 Companies Responsible for 71% of Global Emissions, study says
Climate Case 2015 Urgenda (Dutch Goverment Sued). Together with 900
citizens the Urgenda Foundation filed the Climate Case against the Dutch
Government. On 24 June 2015, Urgenda won a lawsuit against the Dutch
State, forcing it to take more measures against
climate change.
Study finds increased Ocean Acidification due to Human Activities More
anthropogenic carbon in the northeast Pacific means weaker shells for many
marine species.
When you take your next breath,
you'll be breathing in 42 percent more carbon dioxide than if you were
breathing in 1750.
Tell me
how I'm supposed to Breathe with No Air (youtube)
The concentration of CO2 reached 400 ppm for the
first time in recorded history in 2013. 400 parts per million is
400 out of one million molecules in the atmosphere are CO2.
Oxygen Levels Decreasing -
Earth's Atmosphere
-
Offsets
Carbon Dioxide Passes 400 PPM Threshold. never to return below it in our
lifetime.
Air Knowledge (every breath you take)
CO2 concentrations of 7% to 10% or 70,000 to 100,000 ppm may
cause suffocation, even in the presence of sufficient
Oxygen.
Manifesting as
dizziness, headache, visual and hearing
dysfunction, and unconsciousness within a few minutes to an
hour. The physiological effects of acute carbon dioxide exposure
are grouped together under the term
hypercapnia, a subset of
asphyxiation.
Scuba Diving -
CO or Carbon Monoxide
Poisoning.
3 Molecules of Oxygen are Lost for every 1 CO2 Molecule Produced. Less oxygen in the atmosphere
allows more sunlight to reach the earth, allowing more moisture
to evaporate, which increases temperatures and the intensity of
storms.
Calvin Cycle is the set of chemical reactions that take place in
chloroplasts during photosynthesis. The cycle is light-independent because
it takes place after the energy has been captured from sunlight.
Khan Academy.
Earth may be 140 years away from reaching Carbon Levels not seen in 56
million years. Humans have emitted roughly 1,500 gigatons of carbon as
of 2016. Total human carbon dioxide emissions could match those of Earth's
last major
greenhouse warming event in fewer than
five generations.
Carbon Reactions of
photosynthesis
are chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and other compounds
into
glucose.
High CO2: Acid / Alkaline Balance and the
Immune System: Carbon dioxide, through its conversion to carbonic acid, is
a primary regulator of the
acid/alkaline balance of
the blood. The body (organs) has several needs for different levels of
pH).
Higher Levels of CO2 lead to an
immediate drop in blood and extracellular fluid pH levels through the
formation of carbonic acid, thus obliging the hemoglobin to more readily
distribute its
oxygen to meet local metabolic requirements.
CO.
Lower levels
of CO2, as a result of lower metabolism, lead to blood vessel constriction
(e.g. reduction in the diameter of the coronaries) and to higher levels of
blood and extracellular fluid pH (less carbonic acid), thus permitting
oxygen and glucose to go elsewhere where metabolic requirements are
greater. In the simplest of terms, this is the biochemistry of healthy
respiration. A reduction in carbon dioxide shifts the body's
pH toward alkalinity,
which alters the rate of activity of other biochemical processes. Blood
alkaline state weakens the immune system, thus making the body more
susceptible to viruses and allergies.
Low CO2: Vessels: Carbon dioxide in the plasma helps to dilate smooth muscle tissue.
Insufficient carbon dioxide can cause spasms throughout the body,
including the brain, the bronchi, and other smooth muscle tissues. Good
examples are the spasms that take place during asthma attacks and
migraines. The Cardiovascular System: Carbon dioxide helps regulate the
cardiovascular system. Too little carbon dioxide can result in many
problems, including angina, high blood pressure, chest pain, myocardial
infarcts, strokes, and so on. The Digestive System: A direct
relationship exists between the level of carbon dioxide in the body and
the functioning of the digestive glands—especially between the level of
carbon dioxide and the intensity of gastric secretion. Too little carbon
dioxide can eventually lead to poor digestion and eventually to ulcers.
Why does CO2 get most of the attention when there are so many other
heat-trapping gases (greenhouse gases)?
Ice Cores reveal a slow decline in atmospheric Oxygen over the last
800,000 years.
Molecular signature shows plants are adapting to increasing atmospheric
carbon dioxide, but not humans.
Warming
Planet -
Geoengineering
Long-term consequences of CO2 emissions. According to a new study, the
oxygen content in the oceans will continue to decrease for centuries even
if all CO2 emissions would be stopped immediately. The slowdown of ocean
circulation and the progressive warming of deeper water layers are
responsible for this process.
Paleoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on
the scale of the entire history of Earth.
List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita (wiki)
Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle is a technology that
uses a high pressure gasifier to turn coal and other carbon
based fuels into pressurized gas—synthesis gas (syngas). It can
then remove impurities from the syngas prior to the power
generation cycle. Some of these pollutants, such as sulfur, can
be turned into re-usable byproducts through the Claus process.
This results in lower emissions of sulfur dioxide, particulates,
mercury, and in some cases carbon dioxide.
Carbon
Cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is
exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere,
hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Along with the
nitrogen cycle and the water cycle, the carbon cycle comprises a
sequence of events that are key to making the Earth capable of
sustaining life; it describes the movement of carbon as it is
recycled and reused throughout the biosphere, including carbon
sinks.
Image (carbon cycle).
Deep Carbon Observatory is a global research program designed to
transform
understanding of carbon's role in Earth. DCO is a community of
scientists, including biologists, physicists, geoscientists and chemists,
whose work crosses several traditional disciplinary lines to develop the
new, integrative field of deep carbon science. To complement this
research, the DCO’s infrastructure includes public engagement and
education, online and offline community support, innovative data
management, and novel instrumentation development.
Scientists probe underground depths of Earth’s carbon cycle Carbon in
the fluid of the Earth’s mantle is not in the form of carbon dioxide, but
rather in carbonate and
bicarbonate ions.
Carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the
presence of the carbonate ion, CO2−3.
Carbon Sink
is a natural or
artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some
carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.
The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide (CO2)
from the atmosphere is known as carbon sequestration.
Earth's upper mantle may be up to
100 trillion
metric tons of carbon dioxide. There is 1.8 million square
kilometers reservoir of melting carbon under Western United States.
Future
Gen Alliance -
FutureGen
(wiki)
Gem Energy
Greengem
Every year 600-900 million tons of carbon flow through rivers to the ocean
either as particles or in dissolved form. The study makes use of the
existence of two stable carbon isotopes, 12C and 13C, with the latter
being slightly heavier, because it has one more neutron in its nucleus.
The concentration ratio between these two carbon isotopes (referred to as
δ13C) provides a means to track carbon through the different components of
the carbon cycle, including the atmosphere, oceans, river systems and the
biosphere. Knowing the typical δ13C value of land biosphere and for
coastal vegetation, one can now track how this quantity gets diluted in
the oceans. "The carbon isotope values act like an invisible dye that
tells us something about the source where it came from and how much got
released initially.
CO2-eating Microalgae as a Biofuel Feedstock.
Engineering a More Efficient System for Harnessing Carbon Dioxide.
Retrosynthetic Analysis is a technique for solving problems in the
planning of organic syntheses. This is achieved by transforming a target
molecule into simpler precursor structures without assumptions regarding
starting materials. Each precursor material is examined using the same
method. This procedure is repeated until simple or commercially available
structures are reached.
RuBisCO is
an enzyme involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a
process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is converted by
plants and other photosynthetic organisms to energy-rich
molecules such as glucose.
Surveying Rubisco diversity and temperature response to improve
crop photosynthetic efficiency.
Discoveries in Rubisco (Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase):
a historical perspective.
Diamonds from the sky, approach turns CO2 into valuable products.
Capturing Carbon Dioxide From Air (PDF)
Global CCS Institute -
International Energy Agency
Carbamate is an organic compound derived from carbamic acid
(NH2COOH). A carbamate group, carbamate ester (e.g., ethyl carbamate), and
carbamic acids are functional groups that are inter-related structurally
and often are interconverted chemically. Carbamate esters are also called
urethanes.
A forgotten Space Age technology could change how we grow food:
Lisa Dyson (video and interactive text).
Digital Food (youtube)
Hydrogenotroph are organisms that are able to metabolize
molecular hydrogen as a source of energy. An example of
hydrogenotrophy is performed by carbon dioxide reducing
organisms. They utilize CO2 and H2 to produce methane, CH4, by
the following reaction: CO2 + 4H2 → CH4 + 2H2O.
Other hydrogenotrophic metabolic pathways include acetogenesis
and sulfate reduction
Carbon
Recycling to produce renewable methanol from carbon dioxide,
hydrogen, and electricity for energy storage, fuel applications,
and efficiency enhancement.
Single-Celled Organisms may be altering Earth's carbon cycle in ways
scientists never expected. In the area 100 to 1,000 meters below the
ocean's surface -- dubbed the twilight zone because of its largely
impenetrable darkness -- scientists found that tiny organisms called
phaeodarians are consuming sinking, carbon-rich particles before they
settle on the seabed, where they would otherwise be stored and sequestered
from the atmosphere for millennia.
Nanostructured Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Electrocatalysts
for CO2 Reduction in Ionic Liquid.
Breakthrough Solar Cell captures Carbon Dioxide and Sunlight,
produces Burnable Fuel: 1,000-fold improved chemistry leads
to 'artificial leaf' that makes
syngas. Solar cell that cheaply
and efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide directly
into usable hydrocarbon fuel, using only
sunlight for energy.
Carbon Offsets
Carbon Offset is a
reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or other
greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere.
Measuring CO2 -
Carbon Counter -
Go Ever Green -
Carbon Disclosure -
350 ppm -
Post Carbon
Carbon War Room -
Be Green Now -
Carbon Offsets -
Bio-Mimicry -
Warming -
Geoengineering
Emission
Reduction Credits is a credit earned by a company when it reduces air
emissions beyond what is required by permits and rules. It is an asset
that can be used by its owner or sold to companies that need emission
offsets. An emission offset occurs when a company compensates for an
increase in emissions in one area by decreasing emissions in another area.
For example, if a company is expanding, and the expansion will involve an
increase in emissions, this company can use ERCs to offset the emissions
increase. Emission offset requirements include a set tradeoff ratio that
ensures a continuous decrease in air pollution. When a company redeems
emission reduction credit (ERC) certificates to offset increased pollution
levels, the end result is less air pollution. Once the certificates are
redeemed, the ERCs are retired and cannot be used again. The ERC system is
both good for business and good for the air.
Emissions Trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution
by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants.
A central authority (usually a governmental body) allocates or sells a
limited number of permits that allow a discharge of a specific quantity of
a specific pollutant over a set time period. Polluters are required to
hold permits in amount equal to their emissions. Polluters that want to
increase their emissions must buy permits from others willing to sell
them. Financial derivatives of permits can also be traded on secondary
markets. Cap and trade (CAT) programs are a type of flexible environmental
regulation[8] that allows organizations and markets to decide how best to
meet policy targets. This is in contrast to command-and-control
environmental regulations (such as best available technology (BAT)
standards and government subsidies). A 2020 study found that the European
Union Emissions Trading System successfully reduced CO2 emissions even
though the prices for carbon were set at low prices.
Carbon Credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit
representing the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or the
equivalent amount of a different greenhouse gas (tCO2e). Carbon credits
and carbon markets are a component of national and international attempts
to mitigate the growth in concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs). One
carbon credit is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide, or in some markets,
carbon dioxide equivalent gases. Carbon trading is an application of an
emissions trading approach. Greenhouse gas emissions are capped and then
markets are used to allocate the emissions among the group of regulated
sources. The goal is to allow market mechanisms to drive industrial and
commercial processes in the direction of low emissions or less carbon
intensive approaches than those used when there is no cost to emitting
carbon dioxide and other GHGs into the atmosphere. Since GHG mitigation
projects generate credits, this approach can be used to finance carbon
reduction schemes between trading partners and around the world. There are
also many companies that sell carbon credits to commercial and individual
customers who are interested in lowering their carbon footprint on a
voluntary basis. These carbon offsetters purchase the credits from an
investment fund or a carbon development company that has aggregated the
credits from individual projects. Buyers and sellers can also use an
exchange platform to trade, which is like a stock exchange for carbon
credits. The quality of the credits is based in part on the validation
process and sophistication of the fund or development company that acted
as the sponsor to the carbon project. This is reflected in their price;
voluntary units typically have less value than the units sold through the
rigorously validated Clean Development Mechanism. The European Union's
carbon credits traded from $7.78 to $25.19 averaging $16.21 per tonne in
2018. Although it remains in development, it is anticipated that the value
and trading of carbon credits will continue to grow particularly as
several governments have committed to "green recoveries" following the
COVID-19 pandemic recession.
Carbon Bubble is
when the true market value of
oil is over
exaggerated and criminally inflated because the true costs of carbon
dioxide in intensifying global warming are not yet taken into account.
Thus when the truth comes out, those company stocks who are vested in oil
and coal will plummet unless
switch their investments
towards technologies that reduce
global warming and
pollution.
CO2 Conversion - Fuel from CO2
Cornell scientists convert carbon dioxide, create electricity.
Splitting Carbon Dioxide using low-cost catalyst materials. EPFL
scientists have built the first Earth-abundant and low-cost catalytic
system for splitting CO2 into CO and oxygen, an important step towards
achieving the conversion of renewable energy into hydrocarbon fuels.
Recycling Carbon Dioxide: U of T researchers efficiently reduce
climate-warming CO2 into building blocks for fuels.
A chemistry professor in Florida has just found a way to trigger the
process of
photosynthesis in a synthetic material, turning greenhouse gases into
clean air and producing energy all at the same time.
Artificial Photosynthesis
turns CO2 into Energy.
Making aircraft fuel from sunlight and air. Scientists have built a
plant that can produce carbon-neutral liquid fuels from sunlight and air.
The next goal will be to take this technology to industrial scale and
achieve competitiveness. Researchers now describe how this novel solar
reactor functions and outline a policy framework that would provide
incentives to expand the production of 'solar kerosene'.
Transforming Carbon Dioxide into industrial fuels. The gases coming
from power plants and heavy industry are instead captured and fed into
catalytic reactors that chemically transform greenhouse gases like carbon
dioxide into industrial fuels or chemicals and that emit only oxygen.
Reactor turns greenhouse gas into pure liquid fuel. An
electrocatalysis reactor built at Rice University recycles carbon dioxide
to produce pure liquid fuel solutions using electricity.
Carbon dioxide reactor makes 'Martian fuel'. A gas station on Mars?
Chemical engineers envision the possibilities. Engineers are developing
new ways to convert greenhouse gases to fuel to address climate change and
get astronauts home from Mars. UC College of Engineering and Applied
Science assistant professor Jingjie Wu and his students used a carbon
catalyst in a reactor to convert carbon dioxide into methane. Known as the
"Sabatier reaction" from the late French chemist Paul Sabatier, it's a
process the International Space Station uses to scrub the carbon dioxide
from air the astronauts breathe and generate rocket fuel to keep the
station in high orbit.
Artificial Photosynthesis
turns CO2 into Energy -
Geo-Thermal Energy
-
Waste to Energy -
Geo-Engineering
Imaging shows how solar-powered microbes turn CO2 into bioplastic.
Researchers have developed a multimodal platform to image biohybrids --
microorganisms that use solar energy to
convert carbon dioxide into
value-added chemical products -- to better understand how they
function and how they can be optimized for more efficient energy
conversion.
Overcoming a bottleneck in carbon dioxide conversion. Now, researchers
at MIT have identified, quantified, and modeled a major reason for poor
performance in such
conversion systems. The culprit turns out to be a local depletion of
the
carbon dioxide gas right next to the
electrodes being used to catalyze the conversion. The problem can be
alleviated, the team found, by simply pulsing the current off and on at
specific intervals, allowing time for the gas to build back up to the
needed levels next to the electrode.
Metal-Organic Framework are compounds consisting of metal ions or
clusters coordinated to organic ligands to form one-, two-, or
three-dimensional structures. They are a subclass of coordination
polymers, with the special feature that they are often porous. The organic
ligands included are sometimes referred to as "struts", one example being
1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (BDC).
Nano-spike catalysts convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol.
High-Selectivity Electrochemical Conversion of CO2 to Ethanol using a
Copper Nanoparticle/N-Doped Graphene Electrode.
Make
Carbon-Neutral Gasoline Out of Thin Air. Though it resembles oils
derived from plants or petroleum, it does not come from any familiar
source, but has literally been pulled from the thin air, transubstantiated
from gas to liquid with the help of renewably generated electricity. On a
mass scale, it could be used to fly airplanes or power heavy machinery,
replacing petroleum in some situations. It even has a catchy name: eFuel.
The process begins with a module, built by Climeworks of Switzerland, that
extracts carbon dioxide from the ambient air. The device blows air over a
filter that absorbs CO2 and then releases the gas in concentrated form
when heated. An adjacent unit, built by a Dresden-based firm, produces
hydrogen by splitting water molecules through high-temperature
electrolysis. In the third module, built by a Swiss tech company, a
reaction called Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis fuses the carbon and hydrogen to
produce hydrocarbons, the same carbon chains that make up gasoline,
kerosene, coal, and natural gas.
Making aircraft fuel from sunlight and air.
Copper-indium oxide: A faster and cooler way to reduce our carbon
footprint. Scientists set a record for the highest conversion rate of
carbon dioxide at low temperatures with copper-modified indium oxide,
signifying sustainable e-fuel. Emergent e-fuel technologies often employ
the
reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction to convert atmospheric CO2 to
CO. While efficient, this reaction requires high temperatures and complex
gas separation for high performance. However scientists have now
demonstrated record-high CO2 conversion rates at relatively low
temperatures in a modified chemical-looping version of RWGS using a novel
copper-indium oxide.
Chemists create Molecular 'Leaf' that collects and stores Solar Power
without Solar Panels. Uses light or electricity to convert the
greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide -- a carbon-neutral
fuel source -- more efficiently than any other method of "carbon
reduction." quest to recycle carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere into
carbon-neutral fuels and others materials.
Carbon-hungry microorganisms could fast-track future carbon-free solar
fuels to battle climate change. A new technique, modeled after a
metabolic process found in some bacteria, to convert
carbon dioxide or
CO2 into liquid acetate, a key ingredient in producing "liquid
sunlight" or solar fuels through artificial photosynthesis. For decades,
researchers have known that a metabolic pathway in some bacteria allows
them to digest electrons and CO2 to produce acetate, a reaction driven by
the electrons. The pathway breaks CO2 molecules down into two different or
"asymmetric" chemical groups: a carbonyl group (CO) or a methyl group
(CH3). Enzymes in this reaction pathway enable the carbons in CO and CH3
to bond or "couple," which then triggers another catalytic reaction that
produces acetate as the final product. The researchers hypothesized that
CO would stick to the copper surface, triggering the asymmetric coupling
of CO and CH3 groups to produce acetate. Isotope-labelled CH3I was used in
the experiments in order to track the reaction pathway and final products.
(An isotope is an atom with more or fewer neutrons (uncharged particles)
in its nucleus than other atoms of an element.)
We could sequester CO2 by 're-greening' arid lands, plant scientists
say. A team of plant scientists argue that arid lands such as deserts
could be one answer to the carbon-capture problem.
Restoration.
Solar conversion of CO2 to CO using Earth-abundant electrocatalysts
prepared by atomic layer modification of CuO. École polytechnique fédérale
de Lausanne (EPFL) describe a new catalyst for splitting carbon dioxide
that, in their words, is the foundation for the first ever low-cost
carbon-dioxide splitting system. It relies on two materials, tin oxide and
copper oxide, both of which are readily abundant on Earth, and offers a
CO2 to CO conversion efficiency of nearly 14 percent.
Well-Defined Nanographene–Rhenium Complex as an Efficient Electrocatalyst
and Photocatalyst for Selective CO2 Reduction.
Potassium Carbonate is a white salt, soluble in water
(insoluble in ethanol) which forms a strongly alkaline solution. It can be
made as the product of potassium hydroxide's absorbent reaction with
carbon dioxide. It is deliquescent, often appearing a damp or wet solid.
Potassium carbonate is used in the production of soap and glass.
Carbon Offsets
-
Carbon Fund
Terrapass
- We fund projects that destroy greenhouse gases and produce renewable
energy. Each project is made possible by your purchase of renewable energy
credits and carbon offsets. Our projects are happening throughout the
United States, supporting their local communities and offering great
environmental benefits.
Media Distortion (youtube)
My Offsets
-
Sustainable Living -
Low Impact Living
-
Green Building Ideas
What's the difference between
climate change and
global warming?
Warming.
Rankings Countries Carbon Dioxide Emissions -
List of Countries by Carbon Dioxide Emissions (wiki)
Cap & Trade (youtube)
Carbon Tax is when
Green House Gas
emissions caused by the combustion of fossil fuels are closely related to
the carbon content of the respective fuels, a tax on these emissions can
be levied by taxing the carbon content of fossil fuels at any point in the
product cycle of the fuel.
Carbon Price the method favored by many economists for reducing
global-warming emissions — charges those who emit carbon dioxide (
CO2)
for their emissions. That charge, called a carbon price, is the amount
that must be paid for the right to emit one tonne of CO2 into the
atmosphere. Carbon pricing usually takes the form either of a carbon tax
or a requirement to purchase permits to emit, generally known as
cap-and-trade, but also called "allowances".
Carbon Bubble.
Carbon Dioxide Equivalent
are two related but distinct measures for describing how much global
warming a given type and amount of greenhouse gas may cause, using the
functionally equivalent amount or concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) as the reference.
20 Million XPRIZE for someone who develops breakthrough technologies
to convert CO₂ emissions into usable products.
Carbon-Neutral Fuel is energy fuel or energy systems which have
no net greenhouse gas emissions or carbon
footprint. One class is synthetic fuel (including methane, gasoline,
diesel fuel, jet fuel or ammonia) produced from renewable, sustainable or
nuclear energy used to hydrogenate carbon dioxide directly captured from
the air (DAC), recycled from power plant flue exhaust gas or derived from
carbonic acid in seawater.
Renewable
energy sources include wind turbines, solar panels, and hydroelectric
powerful power stations. Another type of renewable energy source is
biofuel. Such fuels are potentially carbon-neutral because they do not
result in a net increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases. To the extent
that carbon-neutral fuels are subject to carbon capture at the flue or
exhaust pipe, they result in negative carbon dioxide emission and net
carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere, and thus constitute a form of
greenhouse gas remediation. Power to gas carbon-neutral and
carbon-negative fuels can be produced by the electrolysis of water to make
hydrogen. Through the Sabatier reaction methane can then be produced which
may then be stored to be burned later in power plants (as a synthetic
natural gas), transported by pipeline, truck, or tanker ship, or be used
in gas to liquids processes such as the Fischer–Tropsch process to make
traditional fuels for transportation or heating. Other carbon-negative
fuels include synthetic fuels made from
CO2
extracted from the atmosphere. Carbon-neutral fuels are used in Germany
and Iceland for distributed storage of renewable energy, minimizing
problems of wind and solar intermittency, and enabling transmission of
wind, water, and solar power through existing natural gas pipelines. Such
renewable fuels could alleviate the costs and dependency issues of
imported fossil fuels without requiring either electrification of the
vehicle fleet or conversion to hydrogen or other fuels, enabling continued
compatible and affordable vehicles. A 250 kilowatt synthetic methane plant
has been built in Germany and it is being scaled up to 10 megawatts.
Carbon credits can also play an important role for carbon-negative fuels.
Global Warming - Climate Change
Global
Warming Potential
is a relative measure of how much heat a
greenhouse gas traps in the
atmosphere. It compares the amount of heat trapped by a certain mass of
the gas in question to the amount of heat trapped by a similar mass of
carbon dioxide. A GWP is calculated over a specific time interval,
commonly 20, 100 or 500 years.
Climate Change occurs when changes in
Earth's climate system result in new
weather patterns that last for at least a few decades, and
maybe for
millions of years.
Climate Change Information and Resources.
Climate Change is a
Fact of Life.
Everyone knows that the climate
changes. And depending on where you live, those changes to the
climate can be easy to adapt to, or catastrophic, where you are forced to
leave and you have to find a different place in the world to live.
Mass Migration is also a
fact of life.
Ecological Crisis -
Crisis of Denial -
Collapse -
Tipping Point
-
Exponential -
Domino Effect
-
Air Pollution -
Ozone -
Risk Management -
Geo-Engineering
Climate Emergency Declaration is declaring a state of climate
emergency, has been issued since 2016 by some countries and other
administrations to set priority and take action about climate change.
Antarctic Iceberg Data.
2023 was the world’s warmest year on record, by far.
Legacy is a
documentary film by
Yann Arthus-Bertrand that raises the alarm on the climate crisis
through a succession of images of the planet seen from the sky.
Climate Crisis is a description of climate change and global warming
used by scientists, governments and other organizations to describe how
the
anthropogenic effects of humans on the climate are proceeding so
quickly that the world is facing a global crisis. A number of governments
and local authorities around the world have made climate emergency
declarations.
Earth's stability and ability to support civilization at risk: Six of
nine
planetary boundaries exceeded, increasing the risk of triggering
dramatic changes in overall Earth conditions. Changes that likely would
decrease the Earth's ability to support modern civilizations.
Planetary boundaries are a framework to describe limits to the impacts of
human activities on the Earth system. Beyond these limits, the environment
may not be able to self-regulate anymore.
Arctic is heating up nearly four times faster than the Earth as a whole.
In the last 43 years, the region has
warmed 3.8
times faster than the planet as a whole, and wild fires in Siberia
are increasing.
The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica has been an elephant in the
room for scientists trying to make global sea level rise predictions. This
massive ice stream is already in a phase of fast retreat; a total loss of
the glacier and surrounding icy basins could raise sea level from three to
10 feet.
Plant
Hardiness Zone Map in 2023 has shifted due to a warming climate.
Evolutionary Mismatch or
evolutionary trap,
is a concept in evolutionary biology that refers to evolved traits that
were once advantageous but became
maladaptive due to
changes in the
environment. Mismatch theory represents the idea that traits that evolved
in an organism in one environment can be
disadvantageous in a different environment.
Chief Heat Officers
are officials focused on delivering a unified response to
extreme heat, protecting their
constituents. A chief heat officer is hired to address rising temperatures
driven by climate change. Their purpose is to raise awareness of
extreme heat.
Severe heat kills at least 1,500 deaths annually,
AP reports, and around half of those deaths are among homeless people
advocates say. In Phoenix, at least 130 homeless people were among 339
people who
died from heat-related causes in 2021.
Heat caused over 47,000 deaths in Europe in 2023, the second highest
burden of the last decade.
Heat related mortality would have been 80% higher in absence of the
adaptation observed during the present century. The results show a total
of 47,690 estimated deaths in 2023 across the 35 countries as a whole, of
which 47,312 deaths would have occurred in the hottest period of the year
(between 29 May and 1 October).
Heat Dome. Starting on June 25 of 2021, the
three day heat dome caused temperatures of 108°, 112°, and 116°
Fahrenheit, shattering previous heat records and resulting in 69
fatalities. A lawsuit alleges that the extreme heat also led to property
damage, and a major drain on county resources and tax dollars.
2021 Western North America heat wave was an extreme heat wave that
affected much of Western North America from late June through mid-July
2021. Extreme event attribution found this was a 1000-year weather event,
made 150 times more likely by climate change.
Unexplained heat-wave 'hotspots' are popping up across the globe. So
extreme, they cannot be explained by global warming models. According to
the report, the most intense and consistent signal comes from northwestern
Europe, where sequences of heat waves contributed to some 60,000 deaths in
2022 and 47,000 deaths in 2023.
Public experiences with extreme weather. From higher electricity bills
to worsened health, more than half of Americans have felt the impacts of
extreme heat, according to a new survey released by NPR, Harvard
University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. That percentage is even
higher in California, where heat was the top climate impact, reported by
71% of those surveyed.
Extreme Heat Days & Warm Nights -
Asthma Data
4 Million People Killed by Climate Change Since 2000. Research team
tallied up how many lives had been lost to diarrheal disease,
malnutrition, malaria, cardiovascular disease (a proxy for heat-related
illness), and flooding, worldwide, in the year 2000. The researchers then
used computer modeling to parse out the percentage of those deaths that
were attributable to climate change. Climate change, they estimated, was
responsible for 166,000 lives lost that year.
Wet-Bulb Temperatures.
The highest wet-bulb
temperature that humans can survive when exposed to
the elements for at least six hours is about 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35
degrees Celsius). Wet-bulb temperatures are on the rise around the world,
and Earth's climate has begun to exceed this limit.
If global temperatures increase by 1 degree Celsius or more than
current levels, each year billions of people will be exposed to heat and
humidity so extreme they will be
unable to naturally cool themselves, according to interdisciplinary
research from the Penn State College of Health and Human Development,
Purdue University College of Sciences and Purdue Institute for a
Sustainable Future. Results of the study indicate that if global
temperatures increase by 2 C above pre-industrial levels, the 2.2 billion
residents of Pakistan and India's Indus River Valley, the one billion
people living in eastern China and the 800 million residents of
sub-Saharan Africa will annually experience many hours of heat that
surpass human tolerance. If
warming of the planet continues to 3 C above pre-industrial levels, the
researchers concluded, heat and humidity levels that surpass human
tolerance would begin to affect the Eastern Seaboard and the middle of the
United States -- from Florida to New York and from Houston to Chicago.
South America and Australia would also experience extreme heat at that
level of warming.
Extreme heat may hasten cognitive decline in vulnerable populations. A
new study finds that ongoing extreme heat can
worsen cognitive decline
among vulnerable groups -- particularly Black older adults and those
living in poor neighborhoods.
Most existing heat wave indices fail to capture heat wave severity.
Even though climate change is bringing more frequent and severe heat
waves, there is no standard, global way to measure heat-wave severity, and
existing
indices have different thresholds for
defining dangerous heat-stress conditions. Researchers report that five
out of six existing heat-wave indices were unable to capture the severity
and spatial distribution of recent lethal heat waves in India, Spain, and
the USA. The sixth index -- the lethal heat-stress index -- was better
able to identify dangerous heat-stress conditions, particularly in
low-humidity regions.
A new study has linked underground climate change to the shifting ground
beneath urban areas. The phenomenon is affecting all major urban areas
around the globe, causing civil structures and infrastructures to crack.
Sir David
Attenborough gives statement at COP26 climate summit in Glasgow
(youtube)
Climate Change is a Health Crisis, but not as damaging as a
dumb downed education from
schools and universities, and not as damaging as the
media and news outlets that transmit more
propaganda than than facts. Climate change is a threat, but not more
threatening as people who are
not informed enough to
adapt to changes in our
world.
Climate Variability and Change includes all the variations in the
climate that last longer than individual
weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those
variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or
more. In addition to the general meaning in which "climate change" may
refer to any time in Earth's history, the term is commonly used to
describe the current climate change now underway. In the time since the
Industrial Revolution, the climate has increasingly been affected by human
activities that are causing global warming and climate change.
Warming climate is putting more metals into Colorado's mountain streams.
Warming temperatures are causing a steady rise in copper, zinc and sulfate
in the waters of Colorado mountain streams affected by acid rock drainage.
Concentrations of these metals have roughly doubled in these alpine
streams over the past 30 years, presenting a concern for ecosystems,
downstream water quality and mining remediation, according to a new study.
Natural chemical weathering of bedrock is the source of the rising acidity
and metals, but the ultimate driver of the trend is climate change, the
report found, and the results point to lower stream volumes and exposure
of rock once sealed away by ice as the likely causes.
Countries where record-breaking heat-waves are likely to cause most harm.
A new study has highlighted under-prepared regions across the world most
at risk of the devastating effects of scorching temperatures. Regions such
as Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Central America, are most in peril.
Beijing and Central Europe are also on the list of hotspots.
Knowing Earth's energy imbalance is critical in preventing global warming,
study finds. The net energy imbalance is calculated by looking at how much
heat is absorbed from the Sun and how much is able to radiate back into
space.
Climate change is closing daily temperature gap, clouds could be the
cause. New research has found that the difference between the daily high
temperature and the daily low temperature -- known as the
diurnal temperature range -- will continue to shrink in parts of the
world as climate changes because of a projected increase in daytime
cloud cover. The diurnal temperature range
has a significant effect on growing seasons, crop yields, residential
energy consumption and human health issues related to heat stress.
Do
you believe in
seasons like summer, fall, winter and spring? Do you
believe in deserts and extended draughts? Do you believe in floods and too
much rain? Do you believe that
sea levels
increased and decreased in the last few million years? Do you believe that
volcanoes
erupting can change the temperature of the planet? Do you believe
there was an
ice age? Do you believe that
scientists can tell the difference between natural CO2 and
man made CO2? Do you believe that
the earth has experienced many changes in its climate throughout its
history? Do you believe in
axial precession? If you said yes to
any of these questions then you believe in climate
change. So the question is, will you
adapt and make the necessary
changes, or will you just suffer and die
because you believe that you can do nothing to change your world? People
ignorantly believe that they are immune to the problems that are happening
in the world. People don't believe that these problems will not effect
them because of where they live. People don't see these problems, so they
think that these problems don't exist.
Fallacy.
Climate impact labels on sample fast food menu had strong effect on food
selection. A new study has found that including climate impact labels
on a sample fast food menu influenced participants' food choices in favor
of more climate-friendly items.
Europe’s 5 Hottest Summers in the past 500
years have all occurred in the last 15 years, not including this summer in 2019. All
heat
waves have been deadly. The 2003 heat wave was the worst, having led
to the
deaths of over 70,000 people; in
2010, 56,000 died in Russia alone. These extreme heat events are all
connected to a slower jet stream that locks weather systems into place.
The loss of sea ice in the Arctic is amplifying warming in the
northernmost regions of our planet, and that is disrupting the natural jet
stream patterns. In the United States between 1992 and 2001,
excessive heat caused
2,190 deaths. The
1995 Chicago heat wave, one of the worst in US history, led to
approximately 739 heat-related deaths over a period of five days. 6
5
Degrees In Antarctica In February 6th, 2020.
The
Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest-warming bodies of water on the
planet, and fishermen are noticing signs of the change. Data released by
the Gulf of Maine Research Institute show that last year surface water
temperatures in the Gulf were on average a half-degree higher than the
previous record, with record highs recorded on 169 days — almost half the
year.
Climate Change Protests -
Stop Business as Usual
Study analyzes how fact-checkers from four different countries assess
climate change claims. Methods, claim makers vary, results show how
practice can best get good information to public. A team of researchers
analyzed
fact-checkers from
four countries work in relation to climate change claims. They found their
methods varied, that they most often checked claims made by politicians
and from social media. They also provide arguments for the most effective
practice of fact checking to ensure the public gets reliable,
understandable information. In this era of rampant misinformation, the
role of
fact-checkers is
becoming increasingly important. Yet, the practice is relatively
understudied. Research from the University of Kansas has analyzed how
fact-checkers in four countries practice the craft in relation to the
contentious issue of climate change. In addition to finding that
fact-checkers across the world have different approaches, the researchers
suggest the most effective ways to approach the practice to provide
accurate, reliable and easy to understand information to the public.
You can say that our actions
will not do any good, and you could say that our efforts will be for
nothing. Maybe we can't stop it. Or maybe we can stop it, or maybe
something will change that helps us to avoid another
mass extinction. We must do both. We must plan for a better future,
and we must plan for a future that looks bleak. We might not have to go to
Mars,
Mars might come to us.
Millions of years for plants to recover from global warming. The
recovery of vegetation from the Siberian Traps event took several millions
of years and during this time Earth's carbon-climate regulation system
would have been weak and inefficient resulting in long-term climate
warming.
Drawing on geochemical analyses of isotopes in sediments, the
research team compared the data with a specially designed model, which
included a representation of vegetation and its role in regulating the
geological climate system.
List of Highest Temperatures ever Recorded on Earth. Each of these
records is understood to be the record value officially observed.
According to the
World
Meteorological Organization, the highest temperature ever recorded was
56.7 °C (
134.1 °F) on 10 July 1913 in
Furnace Creek (Greenland Ranch), California, United States. China had a
high temperature of 50.5 °C or 122.9 °F on the 10th of July 2017. Hong
Kong was 39.0 °C or 102.2 °F on the 22nd of August 2017. Macau was
39.0 °C or 102.2 °F on the 22nd of August 2017. India was 51.0 °C or 123.8
°F on the 19th of May 2016.
Air Conditioning.
Greenhouse Gas
is a gas in an
atmosphere that absorbs and emits
radiation within the
thermal
infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the
greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are
water vapor, carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Without
greenhouse gases, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be
about −18 °C (0 °F), rather than the present average of 15 °C (59 °F). In
the Solar System, the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and Titan also contain
gases that cause a greenhouse effect. Human activities since the beginning
of the Industrial Revolution (taken as the year 1750) have produced a 40%
increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, from 280 ppm
in 1750 to 400 ppm in 2015. This increase has occurred despite the uptake
of a large portion of the emissions by various natural "sinks" involved in
the
carbon cycle. Anthropogenic
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (i.e.,
emissions produced by human activities) come from combustion of
fossil
fuels, coal, oil, and natural gas, along with
deforestation,
soil
erosion and animal agriculture. It has been estimated that if
greenhouse gas emissions continue at the present rate, Earth's surface
temperature could
exceed historical values as early as 2047, with
potentially harmful effects on ecosystems, biodiversity and the
livelihoods of people worldwide. Recent estimates suggest that on the
current emissions trajectory the Earth could pass a threshold of 2 °C
global warming (
3.5 °F) which the United Nations' IPCC designated as the upper
limit to avoid "dangerous" global warming, by 2036.
Human Impact on the Environment anthropogenic impact on the
environment includes impacts on biophysical environments.
Extinction. (anthropogenic emissions).
Specific Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Various Fuels: Wood, Oil and Gas.
Planet at risk of heading towards “Hothouse Earth” state.
Scientists have pumped a potent greenhouse gas into streams on public
lands to track the impact of long-term changes like a warming climate.
Sulfur Hexafluoride is the most potent greenhouse gas known to date,
according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It's 22,800 times more
effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, and lasts in the
atmosphere for thousands of years.
Ozone -
Global Warming Activism
Humidity May Prove Breaking Point for Some Areas as Temperatures Rise.
Earth System Models of Intermediate Complexity (feed back loop) -
EMIC.
Exposure to past temperature variability may help forests cope with
climate change. A new study assessed effects of past and current
climate variability on global
forest productivity.
The work highlights sensitive regions where forests may be most at risk as
the planet warms and temperatures become more extreme. The framework can
help set conservation priorities, support forest adaptation efforts, and
improve
carbon accounting.
General Circulation Models (GCMs) atmospheric Energy Balance Models (EBMs)
Study indicates US cities underestimate their GHG emissions by nearly 20%.
Some cities' self-reported emissions are as much as 145% below
standardized estimates. Cities have become critical players in reducing
the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are causing global climate change.
Urban areas produce almost 70 percent of those emissions, and city
governments are proposing a variety of policy actions aimed at reducing
them. Many cities also produce inventories that detail their greenhouse
gas emissions.
Earth's Energy Budget accounts for the balance between the energy that
Earth receives from the Sun, and the energy the Earth radiates back into
outer space after having been distributed throughout the five components
of Earth's climate system and having thus powered Earth’s so-called heat
engine. This system is made up of Earth's water, ice, atmosphere, rocky
crust, and all living things. Quantifying changes in these amounts is
required to accurately model the Earth's climate.
Earth's Heat Engine. Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere—Earth’s heat
engine—are coupled processes that constantly even out solar heating
imbalances through evaporation of surface water, convection, rainfall,
winds, and ocean circulation, when distributing heat around the globe. The
Hadley system provides an example of a heat engine. Hadley circulation is
identified with rising of warm and moist air in the equatorial region with
descent of colder air in the subtropics corresponding to a thermally
driven direct circulation, with consequent net production of kinetic
energy.
Warming waters cited as a key
culprit in mass die-off of Alaska snow crabs. According to an
annual survey of the Bering Sea floor carried out by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, estimates for the
crustaceans' total numbers fell to about 1.9 billion in 2022, down from
11.7 billion in 2018, or a reduction of about 84 percent. The "cold water
habitat that they need was virtually absent. According to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Alaska is
the fastest warming state in the country, and is losing billions of
tons of ice each year — critical for crabs that need cold water to
survive. Young snow crabs in particular need low temperatures to hide out
from their major predator, Pacific cod, and temperatures in regions where
juveniles typically reside jumped from 1.5 degrees Celsius in 2017 to 3.5
Celsius in 2018 (35 degrees Fahrenheit to 38 degrees Fahrenheit) — with
studies indicating 3C might be an important threshold.
Ocean Sink for Human-Made Carbon Dioxide Measured. Scientists have
determined the amount of
human-made carbon dioxide
emissions taken up by the ocean between 1994 and 2007.
Marine Heat-waves are Human-Made. Heatwaves in the world's oceans have
become over 20 times more frequent due to human influence. This is what
researchers are now able to demonstrate. Marine heatwaves destroy
ecosystems and damage fisheries.
School Strike for Climate is an international movement of school
students who are deciding not to attend classes and instead take part in
demonstrations to demand action to prevent further global warming and
climate change. Publicity and widespread organizing began when the climate
activist Greta Thunberg staged an action in August of 2018 outside the
Swedish Riksdag (parliament), holding a sign that read "Skolstrejk för
klimatet" ("School strike for the climate"). An
estimated 1.4 million young people in
123
countries skipped school March 15th, 2019 to demand stronger
climate policies in what may be one of the largest environmental protests in history.
Activism -
Miles for Climate
-
Sunrise
Movement -
Climate Marches
Extinction Rebellion
works to compel government action on climate breakdown, biodiversity loss,
and the risk of social and ecological collapse.
Fire Drill Fridays
-
Countdown.
The
National Climate Assessment assesses the science of climate
change and variability and its impacts across the United States, now and
throughout this century. (NCA).
Greta Thunberg is an inspiration and a great example of a human being.
She should be the ambassador of planet earth because she is a perfect
representative of our human nature. She's intelligent and a beautiful
person inside and out. When you hear her speak it gives you hope. I also
admire her modesty, it shows how strong her character is. If the world had
more people like her, we could solve every problem on earth. Making people
aware about a serious threat is not easy, especially when most people are
under educated, and when the media is a corporate puppet for corporate
criminals. Her courage and commitment is amazing. Her name should be Greta
Thunderbird.
Thunderbird is a widespread figure in Native American mythology in the
United States and Canada. The Mythical Thunderbird. Described as a
supernatural being, the enormous bird symbolized power and strength that
protected humans from evil spirits.
Judge sides with young activists in first-of-its-kind climate change trial
in Montana in August 2023. A Montana judge on Monday sided with young
environmental activists who said state agencies were violating their
constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting
fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate.
District Court Judge Kathy Seeley found the policy the state uses in
evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits — which does not allow
agencies to evaluate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions — is
unconstitutional. Attorneys for the 16 plaintiffs, ranging in age from 5
to 22, presented evidence during the two-week trial in June that
increasing carbon dioxide emissions are driving hotter temperatures, more
drought and wildfires and decreased snowpack. The plaintiffs said those
changes were harming their mental and physical health, with wildfire smoke
choking the air they breathe and drought drying out rivers that sustain
agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation. Native Americans testifying
for the plaintiffs said climate change affects their ceremonies and
traditional food sources. Carbon dioxide, which is released when fossil
fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible
for the
warming of the climate. This spring, carbon dioxide levels in the
air reached the highest levels they've been in over 4 million years, the
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said earlier this month.
Greenhouse gas emissions also reached a record high last year, according
to the International Energy Agency. July was the hottest month on record
globally and likely the warmest that human civilization has seen,
according to scientists.
Y
oung
climate activists challenging 32 governments will get their day in court.
Now a university student, Sofia and five other Portuguese young adults and
children between 11 and 24 years of age are due on Wednesday at the
European Court of
Human Rights, where they are accusing 32 European governments of
violating their human rights for what they say is a failure to adequately
address climate change. It's the first climate change case filed with the
court and could compel action to significantly slash emissions and build
cleaner infrastructure.
As World Temperatures Rise a Billion People will be newly exposed to
Diseases like Dengue Fever. As many as a billion people could be newly
exposed to disease-carrying mosquitoes by the end of the century because
of global warming.
Allow ocean protected zones to shift and be mobile as species move under
climate change.
A blob of hot water in the Pacific Ocean killed a million seabirds,
scientists say.
Beds Are Burning -
Midnight Oil (youtube) - How do we sleep while our beds are burning?
The time has come to say fair's fair, To pay the rent, to pay our share,
The time has come, a fact's a fact, It belongs to them, let's give it
back.
Heat Stress may affect more than 1.2 billion people annually by 2100.
Occupational Heat Stress is the net load to which a worker is exposed
from the combined contributions of metabolic heat, environmental factors,
and clothing worn which results in an increase in heat storage in the
body. Heat stress can result in heat-related illnesses, such as heat
stroke, hyperthermia, heat exhaustion, heat cramps or heat rashes.
Although heat exhaustion is less severe, hyperthermia is a medical
emergency and requires emergency treatment, which if not provided can even
lead to death. Heat stress causes illness but also may account for an
increase in workplace accidents, and a decrease in worker productivity.
Worker injuries attributable to heat include those caused by: sweaty
palms, fogged-up safety glasses, and dizziness. Burns may also occur as a
result of accidental contact with hot surfaces or steam. In United States,
occupational heat stress in becoming more significant as the average
temperatures increase but remains overlooked. There are few studies and
regulations regarding heat exposure of workers.
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming 1st Edition by
David Wallace-Wells.
Carbon-releasing 'zombie fires' in peatlands could be dampened by new
findings. New simulations have provided clues on reducing uncontrolled
peat fires, which hide underground and are notoriously bad for human
health and the environment. Imperial College London researchers have
simulated for the first time how soil moisture content affects the
ignition and spread of smouldering peat fires, which
can release up to 100 times more carbon into the
atmosphere than flaming fires. They also simulated how several
smaller peat fires can merge into one large blaze, and tracked the
interplay between smouldering and flaming fires.
Greenland Melting Ice Sheet could lead to a sea level rise of 18 cm in
2100. A new study applying the latest climate models predicts a 60
percent greater melting of the Greenland ice sheet than previously
predicted. Data that will be included in the next IPCC report. The
Greenland
ice sheet, the second largest after
the Antarctic's, covers an area of 1.7 million square kilometres. Its
total melting could lead to a significant rise in ocean levels, up to 7
metres. Although we are not there yet, the previous scenarios predicted by
climate models have just been revised upwards, predicting a rise in sea
levels of up to 18 cm by 2100 (compared to the 10 cm announced previously)
just because of the increase in surface melting. Within the framework of
the next IPCC report (AR6) which will appear in 2022, the University of
Liège Laboratory of climatology has been led to apply, within the
framework of the ISMIP6 project, the MAR climate model which it is
developing to downscale the old and new IPCC scenarios. The results
obtained showed that for the same evolution of greenhouse gas
concentrations till 2100, these new scenarios predict a 60% greater
surface melting of the Greenland
ice cap than
previously estimated for the previous IPCC report (AR5, 2013).
Greenland Ice Sheet faces irreversible melting.
Evidence of Antarctic glacier's tipping point confirmed. Researchers
have confirmed for the first time that Pine Island Glacier in West
Antarctica could cross
tipping points, leading to a rapid and irreversible
retreat which would have significant consequences for global sea level.
Risk of multiple climate tipping points escalates above 1.5°C global
warming. Multiple climate
tipping points could be triggered if global
temperature rises beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to a
major new analysis. Even at current levels of
global heating the world is
already at risk of passing
five dangerous climate tipping points, and
risks increase with each tenth of a degree of further warming.
Lessons from the latest global warming. 56 million years ago, the
Earth experienced one of the largest and most rapid climate warming events
in its history: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which has
similarities to current and future warming. This episode saw global
temperatures rise by 5-8°C. It was marked by an increase in the
seasonality of rainfalls, which led to the movement of large quantities of
clay into the ocean, making it uninhabitable for certain living species.
This scenario could be repeated today.
Methane
Methane
is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4 with one atom of
carbon and four atoms of
hydrogen.
Sea Ice Loss - Methane waste reducing
methods.
Many oil wells burn off Methane -- the largest component of natural
gas -- in a process called
flaring, which
currently wastes 150 billion cubic meters of the gas each year and
generates a staggering 400 million tons of carbon dioxide, making this
process a significant contributor to global warming. Methane is
captured and used to generate electrical
power or produce chemicals. However, special equipment is needed to
cool and pressurize methane gas, and special pressurized containers or
pipelines are needed to transport it. Convert methane into derivatives of
methanol, a liquid that can be made into automotive fuel or used as a
precursor to a variety of chemical products. This new method may allow for
lower-cost methane conversion at remote sites.
Arctic
Methane Emissions is the release of methane from seas and soils in
permafrost regions of the Arctic. While a long-term natural process, it is
exacerbated by global warming. This results in a positive feedback effect,
as methane is itself a powerful greenhouse gas. (
5000
Gigatons or a Billion tons being released, 5 Gigatons in the atmosphere in
2017). Decays slowly.
Arctic Methane
Emergency: Methane released by the Gigaton! (youtube
Published on Oct 13, 2016).
Methane traps up to 100 times more
heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
Siberian Shelf
(wiki).
Global methane emissions soar to record high levels. The powerful
heat-trapping gas methane continue to climb, being driven primarily by
growth of emissions from coal mining, oil and natural gas production,
cattle and sheep ranching, and landfills. Climate models suggest will lead
to 3-4 degrees Celsius of warming before the end of this century.
scientists warn that natural disasters, including wildfires, droughts and
floods, and social disruptions such as famines and mass migrations become
almost commonplace. Earth's atmosphere absorbed nearly 600 million tons of
the colorless, odorless gas that is 28 times more powerful than carbon
dioxide at trapping heat over a 100-year span. More than half of all
methane emissions now come from human activities. Annual methane emissions
are up 9 percent, or 50 million tons per year, from the early 2000s, when
methane concentrations in the atmosphere were relatively stable.
MethaneMapper is poised to solve the problem of underreported methane
emissions. MethaneMapper is an artificial intelligence-powered
hyperspectral imaging tool that researchers have developed to detect
real-time methane emissions and trace them to their sources. The tool
works by processing hyperspectral data gathered during overhead, airborne
scans of the target area.
MIT scientists have determined the structure of an enzyme that is found in
ocean microbes and can produce a precursor to methane. Industrial and
agricultural activities produce large amounts of methane. Many bacteria
also produce methane as a byproduct of their metabolism.
Methane-eating 'borgs' have been assimilating earth's microbes. A
newly discovered type of transferrable DNA structure with a sci-fi name
appears to play a role in balancing atmospheric methane. In Star Trek, the
Borg are a ruthless, hive-minded collective that assimilate other beings
with the intent of taking over the galaxy. Here on nonfictional planet
Earth, 'Borgs' are DNA packages that could help humans fight climate
change. Methanoperedens are a type of archaea (unicellular organisms that
resemble bacteria but represent a distinct branch of life) that break down
methane (CH4) in soils, groundwater, and the atmosphere to support
cellular metabolism. Methanoperedens and other methane-consuming microbes
live in diverse ecosystems around the world but are believed to be less
common than microbes that use photosynthesis, oxygen, or fermentation for
energy. Yet they play an outsized role in Earth system processes by
removing methane -- the most potent greenhouse gas -- from the atmosphere.
Methane traps 30 times more heat than carbon dioxide and is estimated to
account for about 30 percent of human-driven global warming. The gas is
emitted naturally through geological processes and by methane-generating
archaea; however, industrial processes are releasing stored methane back
into the atmosphere in worrying quantities. While studying Methanoperedens
sampled from seasonal wetland pool soil in California, the scientists
found evidence of an entirely new type of ECE. Unlike the circular strands
of DNA that make up most plasmids, the most well-known type of
extra-chromosomal element, the new ECEs are linear and very long -- up to
one-third the length of the entire Methanoperedens genome. After analyzing
additional samples from underground soil, aquifers, and riverbeds in
California and Colorado that contain methane-consuming archaea, the team
uncovered a total of 19 distinct ECEs they dubbed Borgs. Using advanced
genome analysis tools, the scientists determined that many of the
sequences within the Borgs are similar to the methane-metabolizing genes
within the actual Methanoperedens genome. Some of the Borgs even encode
all the necessary cellular machinery to eat methane on their own, so long
as they are inside a cell that can express the genes.
Experts present strategies to mitigate methane emissions in dairy cattle.
Methane mitigation has been identified as essential for addressing climate
change. Intensive research in the past decade has resulted in a better
understanding of factors driving enteric methane emissions in
dairy cattle. Researchers recently
found that dietary changes could decrease emissions with no negative
effect on milk production.
Livestock
is responsible for 94% of methane emissions within agriculture in the
United States. The authors' analysis found that dairy cows fed the methane
inhibitor 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) showed approximately a 30% decrease
in daily methane emissions or emissions yield and intensity, with no
effect on dry matter intake, milk production, or body weight, and an
increase in milk fat percentage and yield.
Carbon
Capture.
Bacteria may contribute more to climate change as planet heats up. As
bacteria adapt to hotter temperatures, they speed up their respiration
rate and release more carbon, potentially accelerating climate change.
Prokaryotes that
usually operate in a medium temperature range -- below 45°C -- show a
strong response to changing temperature, increasing their respiration in
both the short term (days to weeks) and long term (months to years).
Scientists discover urea in atmosphere revealing profound consequences for
climate. Areas of the ocean that are rich in marine life are having a
bigger impact on our ecosystems and the climate than previously thought,
new research suggests.
Urea
serves an important role in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing
compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the
urine of mammals. More than 90% of
world industrial production of urea is destined for use as a
nitrogen-release fertilizer.
Methane emissions are rising faster than ever. Methane concentrations
in Earth’s atmosphere increased at record speed over the past five years.
At least two-thirds of annual methane emissions now come from human
activities, including fossil fuel use, agriculture, and landfills and
other waste.
Fire Ice or
Methane Clathrate is a solid clathrate hydrate compound in which a
large amount of methane is trapped within a crystal structure of water,
forming a solid similar to ice. Originally thought to occur only in the
outer regions of the Solar System, where temperatures are low and water
ice is common, significant deposits of methane clathrate have been found
under sediments on the ocean floors of the Earth. Methane clathrates are
common constituents of the shallow marine geosphere and they occur in deep
sedimentary structures and form outcrops on the ocean floor. Methane
hydrates are believed to form by the precipitation or crystallisation of
methane migrating from deep along geological faults. Precipitation occurs
when the methane comes in contact with water within the sea bed subject to
temperature and pressure. In 2008, research on Antarctic Vostok and EPICA
Dome C ice cores revealed that methane clathrates were also present in
deep Antarctic ice cores and record a history of atmospheric methane
concentrations, dating to 800,000 years ago. The ice-core methane
clathrate record is a primary source of data for global warming research,
along with oxygen and carbon dioxide. (also called methane hydrate,
hydromethane, methane ice, natural gas hydrate, or gas hydrate,
CH4·5.75H2O or 4CH4·23H2O).
Exponential Growth
(doubling time)
Nitrous Oxide or N2O emissions pose an increasing climate threat,
study finds. Rising nitrous oxide emissions are jeopardizing the climate
goals of the Paris Agreement, according to a major new study. The growing
use of
nitrogen fertilizers in the
production of food worldwide is increasing atmospheric concentrations of
nitrous oxide -- a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon
dioxide that remains in the atmosphere for more than 100 years. Like CO2,
N2O is a long-lived greenhouse gas and is also currently the most
significant human-induced agent depleting the stratospheric ozone layer,
which protects Earth from most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Agriculture releases about 30% of all greenhouse
gases.
Major sources include deforestation and land clearing,
fertilizer overuse and gassy livestock, all of which are increasing as the
global population increases.
Between 65% and 80% of
CO2 released into the air
dissolves into the ocean over a period of 20–200 years. The rest is
removed by slower processes that take up to several hundreds of thousands
of years, including chemical weathering and rock formation. This means
that once in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide can continue to affect climate
for thousands of years.
Methane is mostly
removed from the atmosphere by chemical reaction, persisting for about 12
years. Thus although methane is a potent greenhouse gas, its effect is
relatively short-lived. But what happens when methane increases every year
for 12 years?
Nitrous oxide is destroyed in
the stratosphere and removed from the atmosphere more slowly than methane,
persisting for around 114 years. Compounds containing chlorine and/or
fluorine (
CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, PFCs) include
a huge number of different chemical species, each of which can last in the
atmosphere for a specific length of time – from less than a year to many
thousands of years. The IPCC has published a comprehensive list of the
atmospheric lifetime of the various CFCs and other greenhouse gases.
Water vapour is a very effective absorber
of heat energy in the air, but it does not accumulate in the atmosphere in
the same way as the other greenhouse gases. This is down to it having a
very short atmospheric lifetime, of the order of hours to days, because it
is rapidly removed as rain and snow. The amount of water vapour that the
atmosphere can hold increases as the atmosphere gets warmer, so the
greenhouse properties of water vapour are usually considered to act as
part of a feedback loop, rather than a direct cause of climate change.
Future Warming could Accelerate. The Early
Eocene
(roughly 48 million to 56 million years ago) was the warmest period of the
past 66 million years. It began with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum,
which is known as the PETM, the most severe of several short, intensely
warm events. The Early Eocene was a time of elevated atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations and surface temperatures at least 14 degrees
Celsius or
25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer, on
average, than today. Also, the difference between temperatures at
the equator and the poles was much smaller. Geological evidence suggests
that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached
1,000 parts per million in the Early Eocene, more than twice the
present-day level of 412 ppm. If nothing is done to limit carbon
emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, CO2 levels could once again
reach 1,000 ppm by the year 2100, according to climate scientists. Until
now, climate models have been unable to simulate the extreme surface
warmth of the Early Eocene -- including the sudden and dramatic
temperature spikes of the PETM -- by relying solely on atmospheric CO2
levels. Unsubstantiated changes to the models were required to make the
numbers work, said Poulsen, a professor in the U-M Department of Earth and
Environmental Sciences and associate dean for natural sciences.
Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing
Radiative Forcing is the difference between insolation (sunlight)
absorbed by the Earth and energy radiated back to space. The influences
that cause changes to the Earth’s climate system altering Earth’s
radiative equilibrium, forcing temperatures to rise or fall, are called
climate forcings. Positive radiative forcing means Earth receives more
incoming energy from sunlight than it radiates to space. This net gain of
energy will cause warming. Conversely, negative radiative forcing means
that Earth loses more energy to space than it receives from the sun, which
produces cooling. Typically, radiative forcing is quantified at the
tropopause or at the top of the atmosphere (often accounting for rapid
adjustments in temperature) in units of watts per square meter of the
Earth's surface. Positive forcing (incoming energy exceeding outgoing
energy) warms the system, while negative forcing (outgoing energy
exceeding incoming energy) cools it. Causes of radiative forcing include
changes in insolation and the concentrations of radiatively active gases,
commonly known as greenhouse gases, and aerosols. Radiative forcing is a
measure of the influence a factor has in altering the balance of incoming
and outgoing energy in the Earth-atmosphere system and is an index of the
importance of the factor as a potential climate change mechanism.
Radiative forcing values are for changes relative to preindustrial
conditions defined at 1750 and are expressed in Watts per square meter (W/m2).
Almost all of the energy that affects Earth's climate is received as
radiant energy from the Sun. The planet and its atmosphere absorb and
reflect some of the energy, while long-wave energy is radiated back into
space. The balance between absorbed and radiated energy determines the
average global temperature. Because the atmosphere absorbs some of the
re-radiated long-wave energy, the planet is warmer than it would be in the
absence of the atmosphere. Radiative forcing is a concept used for
quantitative comparisons of the strength of different human and natural
agents in causing climate change.
Global Dimming is the reduction in the amount of global direct
irradiance at the Earth's surface that has been observed since systematic
measurements began in the 1950s. The effect varies by location, but
worldwide it has been estimated to be of the order of a 4–20% reduction.
However, after discounting an anomaly caused by the eruption of Mount
Pinatubo in 1991, a very slight reversal in the overall trend has been
observed.
Unexpectdly, Earth Got Dimmer And Reflects Less Light Since The 1990s
(youtube).
Albedo
is the measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the
total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a
black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a
body that reflects all incident radiation.
Sulfate Aerosol is used for a suspension of fine solid particles of a
sulfate or tiny droplets of a solution of a sulfate or of sulfuric acid
(hydrogen sulfate). They are produced by chemical reactions in the
atmosphere from gaseous precursors (with the exception of sea salt sulfate
and gypsum dust particles). The two main sulfuric acid precursors are
sulfur dioxide (SO2) from anthropogenic sources and volcanoes, and
dimethyl sulfide (DMS) from biogenic sources, especially marine plankton.
These aerosols can cause a cooling effect on earth.
Solar Minimum is the period of least solar activity in the 11-year
solar cycle of the Sun. During this time, sunspot and solar flare activity
diminishes, and often does not occur for days at a time. The date of the
minimum is described by a smoothed average over 12 months of sunspot
activity, so identifying the date of the solar minimum usually can only
happen 6 months after the minimum takes place. Solar minima is correlated
with changes in climate.
A warming world increases Air Pollution. Climate change is warming the
ocean, but it's warming land faster and that's really bad news for
air quality.
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Assembly Bill AB32 is a
California State Law that fights global warming by establishing
a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
all sources throughout the state.
How to Reduce Heat Extremes by 2-3 Degrees Celsius. How changing
crops, moving to no till agriculture and lightening infrastructure can
reduce extreme temperatures.
7,000 Underground Methane Permafrost Gas Bubbles in Siberia Are About to
Burst.
Increased rainfall stimulates permafrost thaw across a variety of Interior
Alaskan boreal ecosystems.
Arctic Report Card:
Update for 2019.
Arctic ecosystems and communities are increasingly at risk due to
continued warming and declining sea ice.
Domes of Frozen Methane may be warning signs for new blow-outs.
Several methane domes, some 500m wide, have been mapped on the Arctic
Ocean floor. They may be signs of soon-to-happen methane expulsions that
have previously created massive craters in a near-by area they are still
more stable than the pingos found in sub- sea permafrost in Canadian and
Russian Arctic. “The gas hydrate pingos in permafrost are formed because
of the low temperatures. But the water-depth that supports gas hydrates in
sub-sea permafrost is only 40 to 50 meters. There is no significant
pressure there to keep them in check. Sub-seabed permafrost is
deteriorating constantly and quickly” notes Serov. Even though they are
more stable than the permafrost pingos, the Barents Sea domes are on the
limit of their existence. “A relatively small change in the water
temperature can destabilise these hydrates fairly quickly. We were
actually very lucky to observe them at this point. And we will probably be
able to observe significant changes to these domes during our lifetime.
Climate scientists increasingly ignore ecological role of indigenous
peoples. The profound role that indigenous peoples played in fire and
vegetation dynamics, not only in the eastern United States but worldwide,
according to researchers.
More than 50 million
years ago, when the Earth experienced a series of extreme global warming
events, early mammals responded by shrinking in size. While this mammalian
dwarfism has previously been linked to the largest of these events.
Geological Dating Techniques
Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 was a transient period of global warming that
occurred approximately 53.7 million years ago (Ma). It appears to be the
second major hyperthermal that punctuated the long-term warming trend from
the Late Paleocene through the early Eocene (58 to 50 Ma). The
hyperthermals were geologically brief time intervals (<200,000 years) of
global warming and massive carbon input. The most extreme and best-studied
event, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM or ETM-1), occurred
about 1.8 million years before ETM-2, at approximately 55.5 Ma. Other
hyperthermals likely followed ETM-2 at nominally 53.6 Ma (H-2), 53.3
(I-1), 53.2 (I-2) and 52.8 Ma (informally called K, X or ETM-3). The
number, nomenclature, absolute ages and relative global impact of the
Eocene hyperthermals are the source of much current research. In any case,
the hyperthermals appear to have ushered in the Early Eocene Climatic
Optimum, the warmest interval of the Cenozoic Era. They also definitely
precede the Azolla event at about 49 Ma.
Rapid Climate Change in the Arctic. Diminishing sea ice near the
Arctic coast leaves more open water near the coast for winds to create
waves. The increased wave action reaches down and stirs up sediments on
shallow continental shelves, releasing radium-228 and other chemicals that
are carried up to the surface and swept away into the open ocean by
currents such as the Transpolar Drift.
Undersea Gases could Superheat the Planet. Carbon reservoirs on ocean
floor caused global warming before -- and could do it again.
The 2018 Arctic Report Card found the Arctic region had the
second-lowest overall sea-ice coverage on record.
Warming, sea-ice loss: Arctic Report Card tracks region's environmental
changes. The Arctic region experienced the second-warmest air temperatures
ever recorded; the second-lowest overall sea-ice coverage; lowest recorded
winter ice in the Bering Sea; and earlier plankton blooms due to early
melting of sea ice in the Bering Sea.
Declining numbers of
soil fauna, nematodes and other animal species in
the
McMurdo Dry Valleys, one of the world's driest and coldest deserts.
Pollution
Coal Seam Fire refers to natural burning of an outcrop or
underground coal seam. Most coal-seam fires exhibit smoldering combustion,
particularly underground coal-seam fires, because of limited atmospheric
oxygen availability. Coal-seam fire instances on Earth date back several
million years.
Centralia | 100 Wonders | Atlas Obscura (youtube) -
Rising of Global Coal Fires.
Montreal
Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the
ozone layer by phasing out the
production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone
depletion. It was agreed on 26 August 1987, and entered into force on 26
August 1989, followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989. Since
then, it has undergone eight revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi),
1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), 1998
(Australia), 1999 (Beijing) and 2016 (Kigali, adopted, but not in force).
As a result of the international agreement, the ozone hole in Antarctica
is slowly recovering. Climate projections indicate that the ozone layer
will return to 1980 levels between 2050 and 2070. Due to its widespread
adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of
exceptional international co-operation, with Kofi Annan quoted as saying
that "perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date
has been the Montreal Protocol". In comparison, effective burden sharing
and solution proposals mitigating regional conflicts of interest have been
among the success factors for the ozone depletion challenge, where global
regulation based on the
Kyoto Protocol has
failed to do so. In this case of the ozone depletion challenge, there was
global regulation already being installed before a scientific consensus
was established. Also, overall public opinion was convinced of
possible imminent risks. The two ozone treaties have been ratified by 197
parties (196 states and the European Union), making them the first
universally ratified treaties in United Nations history. These truly
universal treaties have also been remarkable in the expedience of the
policy-making process at the global scale, where only 14 years lapsed
between a basic scientific research discovery (1973) and the international
agreement signed (1985 & 1987).(a protocol to the Vienna Convention for
the Protection of the Ozone Layer).
Risk
Management -
Green New Deal
Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that
commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the
scientific consensus that (part one) global warming is occurring and (part
two) it is extremely likely that human-made
CO2
emissions have predominantly caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted
in Kyoto, Japan on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February
2005. There are currently 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012) to the Protocol.
Oxygen Depletion
Anoxic Waters are areas of
sea water, fresh water, or groundwater that
are depleted of dissolved oxygen and are a more severe condition of
hypoxia. The US Geological Survey defines anoxic groundwater as those with
dissolved oxygen concentration of less than 0.5 milligrams per litre. This
condition is generally found in areas that have restricted water exchange.
In most cases,
oxygen is prevented from reaching the deeper levels by a
physical barrier as well as by a pronounced density stratification, in
which, for instance, heavier hypersaline waters rest at the bottom of a
basin. Anoxic conditions will occur if the rate of oxidation of organic
matter by bacteria is greater than the supply of dissolved oxygen.
Anoxic is a description of the
environment
without oxygen. Mostly
microbes live here, and oxygen is
actually toxic to most of them.
Anoxic Event in the Earth's past where portions of
oceans become
depleted in oxygen (O2) at depths over a large geographic area. During
some of these events, euxinia, waters that contained H2S hydrogen sulfide,
developed. Although anoxic events have not happened for millions of years,
the geological record shows that they happened many times in the past.
Anoxic events
coincided with several mass extinctions and may have
contributed to them. Many geologists believe oceanic anoxic events are
strongly linked to slowing of ocean circulation,
climatic warming, and
elevated levels of greenhouse gases. Researchers have proposed enhanced
volcanism and
the release of CO2 as the central external trigger for
Euxinia,
which refers to the state of water when the water is depleted of oxygen
and has a raised level of free hydrogen sulfide. The Black Sea is known to
experience euxinia. When parts of an ocean are depleted of oxygen,
hydrogen sulfide is formed.
Hypoxia refers to
low oxygen conditions. Normally,
20.9% of the gas in the atmosphere is oxygen.
The partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere is 20.9% of the total
barometric pressure. In water however, oxygen levels are much lower,
approximately 1%, and fluctuate locally depending on the presence of
photosynthetic organisms and relative distance to the surface (if there is
more oxygen in the air, it will diffuse across the partial pressure
gradient).
Ocean Deoxygenation is the expansion of
oxygen minimum zones in the
world's oceans as a consequence of anthropogenic emissions of carbon
dioxide. The change has been fairly rapid and poses a threat to fish and
other types of marine life, as well as to people who depend on marine life
for nutrition or livelihood.
Dead Zone are areas in the world's oceans and large lakes, caused by
"
excessive nutrient pollution from human activities coupled with other
factors that deplete the oxygen required to support most marine life in
bottom and near-bottom water.
(NOAA)".
Ocean Protection.
Oxygen Minimum Zone is the zone in which oxygen saturation in seawater
in the ocean is at its lowest. This zone occurs at depths of about 200 to
1,500 m (660–4,920 ft), depending on local circumstances. OMZs are found
worldwide, typically along the western coast of continents, in areas where
an interplay of physical and biological processes concurrently lower the
oxygen concentration (biological processes) and restrict the water from
mixing with surrounding waters (physical processes), creating a “pool”
of water where oxygen concentrations fall from the normal range of 4–6
mg/l to below 2 mg/l.
Temperature is stronger than light and flow as driver of oxygen in US
rivers. The amount of dissolved oxygen in a river is a matter of life
or death for the plants and animals living within it, but this oxygen
concentration varies drastically from one river to another, depending on
their unique temperature, light and flow. To better understand which
factor has the greatest impact on the concentration of dissolved oxygen,
researchers used a deep learning model to analyze data from hundreds of
rivers across the United States.
Ocean Acidification is the ongoing decrease in the
pH of the Earth's
oceans, caused by the uptake of
carbon dioxide
or CO2 from the atmosphere. The main cause of ocean acidification is the
burning of fossil fuels. Seawater is slightly
basic (meaning
pH > 7),
and ocean acidification involves a shift towards pH-neutral conditions
rather than a transition to acidic conditions (pH < 7). The issue of ocean
acidification is the decreased production of the shells of shellfish and
other aquatic life with calcium carbonate shells. The calcium carbonate
shells can not reproduce under high saturated acidotic waters. An
estimated 30–40% of the carbon dioxide from human activity released into
the atmosphere dissolves into oceans, rivers and lakes. Some of it reacts
with the water to form carbonic acid. Some of the resulting carbonic acid
molecules dissociate into a bicarbonate ion and a hydrogen ion, thus
increasing ocean acidity (H+ ion concentration). Between 1751 and 1996,
surface ocean pH is estimated to have decreased from approximately 8.25 to
8.14, representing an increase of almost 30% in H+ ion concentration in
the world's oceans. Earth System Models project that, by around 2008,
ocean acidity exceeded historical analogues and, in combination with other
ocean biogeochemical changes, could undermine the functioning of marine
ecosystems and disrupt the provision of many goods and services associated
with the ocean beginning as early.
Air bubbles in Antarctic ice point to cause of oxygen decline. Glacial
erosion likely caused atmospheric oxygen levels to dip over past 800,000
years. An unknown culprit has been removing oxygen from our atmosphere for
at least 800,000 years, and an analysis of air bubbles preserved in
Antarctic ice for up to 1.5 million years has revealed the likely suspect.
When you expose fresh crystalline surfaces from the sedimentary reservoir
to O2, you get weathering that consumes oxygen. Another way glaciers could
promote the consumption of atmospheric oxygen is by exposing organic
carbon that had been buried for millions of years.
Hazardous Waste
Biological Warfare,
Bioterrorism and the release of
Pathogens happens everyday, except we call it
Pollution. Pollution has murdered more people and created
more diseases then all wars combined. Billions of dollars are
spent every year in healthcare
to treat all these pollution related diseases. Think about all
the time people and resources that are wasted treating this
disease called pollution, and none for fixing the causes of
pollution, you can't win a war if you are only treating the
disease, you have to find a cure. And improving peoples access
to important information and knowledge is the first step.
Witness : Invisible Threat (youtube)
Hazardous Waste is waste that has substantial or potential
threats to public health or the environment.
Characteristic hazardous wastes are materials that are known or tested to
exhibit one or more of the following hazardous traits: Ignitability,
Reactivity, Corrosivity and Toxicity. Listed hazardous wastes are
materials specifically listed by regulatory authorities as hazardous
wastes which are from non-specific sources, specific sources, or discarded
chemical products. Hazardous wastes may be found in different physical
states such as gaseous, liquids, or solids. A hazardous waste is a special
type of waste because it cannot be disposed of by common means like other
by-products of our everyday lives. Depending on the physical state of the
waste, treatment and solidification processes might be required.
EPA
List of Hazardous Waste.
Hazardous Waste in the United States (wiki) -
Radioactive Waste
Operation Whitecoat was a biodefense medical research
program carried out by the United States Army at Fort Detrick, Maryland
between 1954 and 1973. The program pursued medical research using
volunteer enlisted personnel who were eventually nicknamed "Whitecoats".
These volunteers, all conscientious objectors, including many members of
the Seventh-day Adventist Church, were informed of the purpose and goals
of each project before providing consent to participate in any project.
The stated purpose of the research was to defend troops and civilians
against biological weapons and it was believed that the Soviet Union was
engaged in similar activities. Although the program was discontinued in
1973, human use research for biodefense purposes is still conducted at the
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at
Fort Detrick and at other government and civilian research institutes.
However, these post-Whitecoat studies are often, human use challenge
studies, in which a person is inoculated with a known pathogen to
determine how effective an investigational treatment will be.
Environmental
Crime -
Depleted Uranium -
Toxins in Products
The real terrorists are the government
agency's that allow big corporations to kill people and to
poison the environment. They are responsible for more
murders, more attacks on human rights, and poisoning more food, water,
land and air then anything else. And since these criminals own the media
you will never have enough knowledge and information that is needed to
understand what is happening to you, or the world.
Coal Combustion Waste (PDF) According to the EPA, more than half of all
toxic water pollution
in the country comes from coal-fired power plants.
EPA’s 1998 Chemical
Hazard Data Availability Study revealed that although nearly
3,000 chemicals have High Production Volume status in the United
States (defined by the EPA as imported or produced at one
million pounds per year or more), complete basic toxicity
profiles (covering acute, sub-chronic, chronic, developmental,
and reproductive toxicity, as well as mutagenicity) were
available for only 7% of these.
Confronting Toxic Chemical Management
Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 regulates the
introduction of new or already existing chemicals. When the TSCA was put
into place, all existing chemicals were considered to be safe for use and
subsequently grandfathered in. Its three main objectives are to assess and
regulate new commercial chemicals before they enter the market, to
regulate chemicals already existing in 1976 that posed an "unreasonable
risk to health or to the environment", as for example PCB's, lead, mercury
and radon, and to regulate these chemicals' distribution and use.
Importing and Exporting Hazardous Chemicals -
Pesticides
-
NeurotoxinsIt's not what you believe.
The question is do you understand knowledge and information? Do
you understand research and historical evidence? Do you know the
difference between a
fact and an opinion? So it does not matter
what you believe, what matters is
what you know, and can you
prove what you know? If you don't know enough, and if you know
something but have no way of proving it, then what you believe
is useless and irrelevant. You are simply ignorant. So the only
logical answer that you can give is "I don't know enough to have
an opinion on that matter, but if it is true, I can make
adjustments in my life that will guarantee that either way, I am
safe. And these adjustments are good either way, so I can't lose
even if I'm wrong.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
Food
Safety -
Soil
Testing -
Recycling
Annenberg
Foundation
Lipstick on a Pig "Exposure to
pesticides
and their residues causes farmworkers to suffer more
chemical-related injuries and illnesses than any other workforce
nationwide."
"There are many
toxins in our foods, in our homes and in our environment. If you
don't stand up for healthier products and a healthier
environment, then you will have to get use to eating poison and
getting diseases, like cancer."
"How can we be an accessory to the
worlds largest mass murder in our history. People seem
comfortable with knowing their life is ending, but they have no
compassion for the millions of lives that they are responsible
for killing. How did we become so disconnected?..So many people
have blood on their hands, some people don't even know it and
others know it but ignore it."
"Humans are killing
the planet, but if we combine our efforts and make better
decisions together, humans can save the plane and save the lives
of millions of people.
The Choice is ours."
"Money is just one of
many tools that humans have. And when it comes to solving a
problem you will need more then just money to solve it. Money
doesn't solve problems, people solve problems."
Noise Pollution
Noise Pollution is the disturbing or
excessive
noise that may harm the activity or balance of human or animal life. The
source of most outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines and
transportation systems, motor vehicles engines, aircraft, and trains.
Outdoor noise is summarized by the word
environmental 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
areas. Documented problems associated with urban noise go back as far as
Ancient Rome. Outdoor noise can be caused by machines, construction
activities, and music performances, especially in some workplaces.
Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused by outside (e.g. trains) or
inside (e.g. music) noise. High noise levels can contribute to
cardiovascular effects in humans and an increased incidence of coronary
artery disease. In animals, noise can increase the risk of death by
altering predator or prey detection and avoidance, interfere with
reproduction and navigation, and contribute to permanent hearing loss.
Underwater Noise Pollution -
Sound -
Microwaves
-
Noise Pollution (epa)
The Eco-System is our Teacher
And this teacher is clearly
showing us the way to survive and to sustain a Happy and Healthy Life Style. This knowledge is
Priceless.
Insects, birds and other animals all play an important
role in
maintaining the
environment. Humans also have an important role in maintaining the
environment, except that humans have to learn what their role is because
that knowledge is not
instinctive, which means certain knowledge, information and skills
have to be learned. This is why improving education and improving the
media is so extremely important. When humans are more educated and more
informed about themselves and the world around them, they can understand
the choices and options they have more
accurately, and then use
human intelligence to make accurate choices and better decisions. We have
already been doing this for hundreds of years, but all the other 7 billion
people need a high quality education. If animals, plants and insects were
not born with instincts or behavioral
instructions, then life would not exist. And if humans don't
understand the instructions we receive from the environment, and from our
own bodies, then humans will go extinct like millions of other species
have done in the last 700 million years.
The Natural Beauty of the Great Outdoors in Perfect
Harmony
National Parks are a
beautiful reminder of what God was doing for hundreds of
millions of years before humans were even created. Just think
about it, hundreds of millions of years creating magnificent
mountains, beautiful oceans, streams and rivers, in a perfect
balanced
Ecosystem
that has built to sustain itself for millions of years, living
in harmony with all kinds of amazing life forms, to roam her
land, to fly through her skies and to swim in her seas.
Biomimicry.
Evolution or Intelligent Design?
I couldn’t even begin to imagine a greater place then earth, and
we can see hundreds millions of light years away. Even if there
were another living planet, I doubt it would be as nice as
earth.
Nature is more
then just visual it’s a feeling of Serenity, Tranquility,
Peacefulness, Harmony and Calm. If you lose this feeling it
means that you are simply lost and out of touch.
It's like the
Six degrees of Separation, everybody in one way or another
is related to
Mother Earth.
It’s easy to
describe how beautiful our earth is, especially now with photos
and video, but when try to describe what you feel when you see a
National Park, like Glacier National Park in Wyoming for
instance, it’s really hard to find the words that do it justice,
it’s like trying to describe life. It’s has to be the oldest
living feeling in our human history. Knowing that millions of
eyes before you have witnessed what you are seeing, it’s like
being connected to all our ancestors, especially the American
Indians, who have loved this land for thousands of years before
America was even a country. When you read all the beautiful
words that people have written about National Parks, it’s like
you are reading a love story, and that’s what it truly is, a
love story. I have always loved the outdoors and our natural
environment, and when I see it being destroyed, it’s like
someone destroying your home with your family still inside. Even
amongst all the devastation, we are so fortunate that we had
some great people who stood up and fought to protect our natural
environments.
Documentary by Ken Burns:
National Parks - America's Best Idea.
Humans are the caretakers of this earth, the only living planet
around. So it is everyone’s responsibility to protect our earth
and all its life forms, because believe it or not, our life actually depends on it.
Mass Extinction Number 6
Scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal
become
extinct every 24 hours. This is nearly 1,000 times the
"natural" or "background" rate and, say many biologists, is
greater than anything the world has experienced since the
vanishing of the dinosaurs nearly 65 Million years ago.
Mathematics predicts a sixth mass extinction. By 2100, oceans may hold
enough carbon to launch mass extermination of species in future millennia.
Nearly 600 plant species have gone extinct since the 1750s.
Habitat Destruction -
Positive
Feedback Loop
21 endangered species go extinct. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
removed 21 species from its endangered list on Monday due to extinction.
Nature’s Dangerous Decline is Unprecedented and Species Extinction Rates
are Accelerating (United Nations Report 2019) - We have just Minutes
to act, and that is a fact.
The World Lost Two-Thirds Of Its Wildlife In 50 Years. We Are to
Blame.
The true global impact of species-loss caused by humans is far greater
than expected. The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by
humans over the last 130,000 years has led to substantial reductions in
avian functional diversity -- a measure of the range of different roles
and functions that birds undertake within the environment -- and resulted
in the loss of approximately 3 billion years of unique evolutionary
history, according to a new study.
Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass
extinction.
Freshwater Mussels Dying. Freshwater mussels are bivalves – animals
with two shells – that live on every continent except Antarctica. North
America is home to more than a third of the world’s mussel species, but
more than 70 percent of the continent’s 302
species are extinct or imperiled. A single freshwater mussel can
filter more than 15 gallons of water in a day. Freshwater mussels, like
pollinators and trees, are critical to their larger ecosystems and the
world around them. They filter out sediment and agricultural runoff,
limiting the size and impacts of dead zones. They reduce fecal bacteria
from water, lowering the risk of E-coli. They sequester carbon,
phosphorous and
heavy metals. There's even evidence they can remove
man-made contaminants from water, like pharmaceuticals, flame retardants
and personal care products.
Population of Vertebrate Animals Fell 58% From 1970-2012. The largest
drop was in freshwater species, which fell on average 81 percent in that
time period.
Largest King Penguin Colony has Shrunk Nearly 90%.
Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. An
estimated
82 percent of wild mammal biomass has
been lost, while 40 percent of amphibians, almost a third of
reef-building corals, more than a third of marine mammals, and 10 percent
of all insects are threatened with extinction.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services (wiki).
Entering the Sixth Mass Extinction:
Accelerated Modern Human–Induced Species Losses:
Climate Change -
The Sounds of Silence
-
Civilizations Collapsed.
Study uncovers major hidden human-driven bird extinctions. Scientists
say 1 in 9 species have been lost -- double the current estimate.
Humans have wiped out around 1,400 bird species
-- twice as many as previously thought -- with major implications for the
ongoing biodiversity crisis, a new study has found. The estimated
extinctions would mean almost 12 per cent of bird species have died out
over modern human history, since the Late Pleistocene around 130,000 years
ago, with the vast majority of them becoming extinct directly or
indirectly due to human activity.
Canary in a Coal Mine
is something whose sensitivity to adverse conditions makes it a
useful early indicator of such conditions; something which warns of
the coming of greater danger or trouble by a deterioration in its health
or welfare. Name originated from miners who use to carry down caged
canaries (birds) into the mine tunnels with them. If dangerous gases such
as carbon monoxide collected in the mine, the gases would kill the canary
before killing the miners, thus providing a warning to exit the tunnels
immediately. Except in our case we don't have a way out of our tunnel
because we have only one planet.
Mammals cannot Adapt or Evolve fast enough to Escape current Extinction
Crisis.
"We are destroying the book of
life before we even had a chance to finish reading it."
"We can either be
part of this miracle called the eco-system or just
Go Extinct
like 99.9% of other species have done before. We just happen to be the
only species in the history of our planet who actually might have a
choice."
Holocene
Extinction, the Sixth Extinction or Anthropocene Extinction, is a name
for the ongoing extinction event of species during the present Holocene
epoch (11,700 years before AD 2000)
mainly due to human activity.
Anthropocene is the significant human impact on the Earth's geology
and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic
climate change.
Societal Collapse (historical cities
abandoned).
ANTHROPOCENE
the New Geological Epoch
(youtube) -
ABC TV
Catalyst (twitter)
Anthropic is
relating to mankind or the period of
mankind's existence.
Anthropocentric
is human-centered.
Global Warming -
Planned Obsolescence -
Adaptation.
Epoch in geology is a subdivision of the geologic timescale that is
longer than an age and shorter than a period.
Geologic Time
Scale is a system of chronological dating that relates geological
strata (stratigraphy) to time, and is used by geologists, paleontologists,
and other Earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships of
events that have occurred during Earth’s history. The table of geologic
time spans, presented here, agrees with the nomenclature, dates and
standard color codes set forth by the International Commission on
Stratigraphy.
Mass Extinctions in the Past
Extinction is the
end of an organism or of a group of
organisms (taxon), normally a species.
The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the
last individual of the species.
Fern
Spike is the occurrence of abundant fern spores in the fossil record,
usually immediately (in a geological sense) after an extinction event. The
spikes are believed to represent a large, temporary increase in the number
of ferns relative to other terrestrial plants after the extinction or
thinning of the latter, probably because fern dispersal is more rapid over
large geographic areas, since single-celled fern spores are more easily
distributed by the wind than are seeds. Fern spikes are most associated
with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, although they have been
found at other events such as at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Away from
the fossil record, fern spikes have also been observed to occur in
response to local extinction events, for instance the 1980 Mount St.
Helens eruption.
Extinction Event is a widespread and rapid decrease in the
biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in
the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occurs when the
rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation.
Because the majority of diversity and biomass on Earth is microbial, and
thus difficult to measure, recorded extinction events affect the easily
observed, biologically complex component of the biosphere rather than the
total diversity and abundance of life. Extinction occurs at an uneven
rate. Based on the fossil record, the background rate of extinctions on
Earth is about two to five taxonomic families of marine animals every
million years. Marine fossils are mostly used to measure extinction rates
because of their superior fossil record and stratigraphic range compared
to land organisms.
Extinction Threshold is a term used in conservation biology to explain
the point at which a species,
population or
metapopulation, experiences an abrupt change in density or number because
of an important parameter, such as habitat loss. It is at this critical
value below which a species, population, or
metapopulation, will go extinct, though this may take a long time for
species just below the critical value, a phenomenon known as extinction
debt. Extinction thresholds are important to conservation biologists when
studying a species in a population or metapopulation context because the
colonization rate must be larger than the extinction rate, otherwise the
entire entity will go extinct once it reaches the threshold. Extinction
thresholds are realized under a number of circumstances and the point in
modeling them is to define the conditions that lead a population to
extinction. Modeling extinction thresholds can explain the relationship
between extinction threshold and habitat loss and habitat fragmentation.
How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean? 8.7 million
(±1.3 million SE) eukaryotic species globally, of which 2.2 million (±0.18
million SE) are marine. In spite of 250 years of taxonomic classification
and over 1.2 million species already catalogued in a central database, our
results suggest that some 86% of existing species on Earth and 91% of
species in the ocean still await description.
Armageddon refers to any
end of the world scenario.
Eschatology are the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny
of humanity.
End Time
is where world events achieve a final climax.
Eco-Ideas -
Environmental Education
Researchers uncover new clues to Surviving Extinction. Ecological
transformation in the wake of the 'Great Dying' moves scientists
closer to understanding the nature of recovery.
Sustainability Success Stories.
Revolutionary method could bring us much closer to the description of
hyperdiverse faunas. Largely relying on DNA barcoding, rather than
traditional practices, a simplified diagnostics method for species
description could be the key to revealing
Earth's
biodiversity before much of it goes extinct. The approach is
demonstrated in practice with the description of 18 new to science species
of parasitic wasps, recently discovered from the Área de Conservación
Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Researchers consider whether supernovae killed off large ocean animals at
dawn of Pleistocene. About 2.6 million years ago, an oddly bright
light arrived in the prehistoric sky and lingered there for weeks or
months. It was a supernova some 150 light years away from Earth. Within a
few hundred years, long after the strange light in the sky had dwindled, a
tsunami of cosmic energy from that same shattering star explosion could
have reached our planet and pummeled the atmosphere, touching off climate
change and triggering mass extinctions of large ocean animals, including a
shark species that was the size of a school bus.
A staggering 80 percent of 94 ecological processes that form the
foundation for healthy marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems
already show signs of distress and response to
climate change. 82 percent of key biological processes necessary for
healthy ecosystems had been impacted by the phenomenon. The changes have
been felt even though the world is just 1 degree Celsius warmer than
pre-industrial levels.
More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass
in protected areas.
Fossil pollen record suggests vulnerability to mass extinction ahead.
Reduced resilience of plant biomes in North America could be setting the
stage for the kind of mass extinctions not seen since the retreat of
glaciers and arrival of humans about 13,000 years ago, cautions a new
study. The warning comes from a study of 14,189 fossil pollen samples
taken from 358 locations across the continent.
Human-influenced Mass Extinction of Giant Carnivores and Herbivores of
North America fundamentally changed the biodiversity and landscape of the
continent.
Extinction of Large Mammal species likely drove survivors apart.
Disappearance of mammoths, other giants likely reduced interactions of
smaller mammals.
Precipice is
when you're on the brink of a dangerous situation and extremely close to
disaster or failure.
Human Extinction
is the hypothetical end of the human species. This may result from natural
causes or it may be anthropogenic, i.e. the result of human action. The
likelihood of human extinction in the near future by wholly natural
scenarios, such as a meteorite impact or large-scale volcanism, is
generally considered to be extremely low. For anthropogenic extinction,
many possible scenarios have been proposed: human global nuclear
annihilation, biological warfare or the release of a pandemic-causing
agent, dysgenics, overpopulation, ecological collapse, and climate change;
in addition, emerging technologies could bring about new extinction
scenarios, such as advanced artificial intelligence, biotechnology or
self-replicating nanobots. The probability of anthropogenic human
extinction within the next hundred years is the topic of an active debate.
Human extinction needs to be differentiated from the extinction of all
life on Earth (see also future of Earth) and from the extinction of major
components of human culture (e.g., through a global catastrophe
leaving only small, scattered human populations, which might evolve in
isolation).
Why Civilizations Fail.
What Would
Happen If Humans Disappeared? (youtube)
10,000 Years After Humans The only sign of
human life on Earth will be the stone statues we've created, like the
Pyramids, The Great Wall of China, and Mt. Rushmore. Our stone presidents
will remain "mostly intact" for several hundreds of thousands of
years.
50 Million Years After Humans
By now, the only trace of our entire human existence will
plastic bottles and pieces of
broken glass.
100 Million Years After
Humans The
plastic bottles
and pieces of glass will finally be gone.
Knowledge Preservation.
300 Million Years After Humans There
will be no trace of us at all. If another species comes to our planet,
they won't even know we were there.
Timeline of the Far Future (wiki)
1
billion years The Sun's luminosity has increased by 10%, causing
Earth's surface temperatures to reach an average of c. 320 K (47 °C; 116
°F). The atmosphere will become a "moist greenhouse", resulting in a
runaway evaporation of the oceans. Pockets of water may still be present
at the poles, allowing abodes for simple life
1.3 billion years eukaryotic life dies out
due to carbon dioxide starvation. Only prokaryotes remain.
1.5–1.6 billion years The Sun's increasing
luminosity causes its
circumstellar habitable zone to move outwards; as
carbon dioxide increases in Mars's atmosphere, its surface temperature
rises to levels akin to Earth during the ice age.
"I'm not sad to know that I will die
someday, what truly makes me sad is knowing that the entire human race
could die and go extinct. So I'm going to do everything in my power to
stop this from happening. We can not have a
mutiny
on a sinking ship, that's just freaking stupid. We need to stop the ship
from sinking first, then we can work on solving our other problems too."
The human body is in fact very much like the earths eco-system,
it grows, it regenerates, it sustains, it dies and then it’s
reborn. So in a sense the earth is an extension of our body for
it too keeps us alive. The earth can live without humans but
humans cannot live without the earth.
We are all Connected
The Earth is our Greatest
Teacher. Everything that our earth has taught us, through her
many lessons and examples, has given us the abilities and
knowledge to survive and grow for ten’s of thousands of years.
But for some strange reason humans have stopped paying attention
to their teacher. Blame it on emotions, superficial distractions
or an undisciplined brain. This Attention Deficit is every
humans Achilles Heal. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted
or blinded from knowing our responsibilities, our priorities and
our own reality. One of earth’s greatest lessons is upon us,
“Learn to Live Together or Die”. And not just learn to live each
other as humans, but learn to live together with our planet.
There’s nothing more damaging to the human spirit then
suffering. And there’s no need to suffer in order to learn a
lesson. Though survival is a great motivator, motivation without
a clear direction or understanding will always lead to more
confusion and then more suffering. Our fellow humans are
suffering and so is our earth. It’s time that we start paying
more attention to what we need to do and not just what we want
to do.
Every living thing on this planet
is in some way affected by the environment in which they live.
The number of
environmental effects that Humans have to deal
with is much higher then any other species on the planet. That
is because we have added most of theses environmental effects
ourselves. We are not totally aware of most of these
environmental effects but we are aware of a lot of them.
Everyone needs to be more informed in order to be aware of these
effects and to be aware if they are contributing to these
effects. Also everyone needs to be more informed in order to
understand and become more aware of the effects that we know
little about. If we minimize our affects on the environment
while at the same time educate ourselves about the ones that we
need to contend with, we will definitely improve life to a
degree because we all know that things have a cumulative effect,
whether they are good or bad.
"You have to learn to understand the
soil,
what it needs and what it offers.
The earth is our
mother and she’s the reason why we are all here.
Take care of her and she’ll take care of you.
And please don’t mind the occasional outbursts from
mother nature,
she’s just reminding us that we should never take Life for
granted.
Thank You Mom.."
Our Souls are
Seeds, our Words are its Soil.
Spreading the seeds of
knowledge
like a flower spreading its seeds in the wind,
education is the first step so let us begin.
Our evolution is upon us, and has already begun,
it's time for all to realize, we too can shine like the sun.
-
Howard Polley
To learn more about how earth is our greatest teacher watch the documentary
NatureTech (youtube).
Bio-mimicry -
Environmental Quotes -
Famous Sayings about the Environment
The universe is our home. The
earth is our teacher and the animals are the students. Since
most animals have been here longer then humans they have become
the teachers assistant. Animals have taught us many things on
how to survive and the reasons to migrate.
There are a
lot of things in nature that make sense, except for humans, especially
when
too many people are not making
any sense of the world. When you don't make sense, you do
things that don't make sense. Nature understands adaptation,
nature understands trends. And this intelligence is one of the
main reasons why plant life has survived for millions of years.
We also see intelligence in animal life, especially humans. But
too many humans make no sense of the environment, like plants
do. So why are we so disconnected? And not just disconnected
from ourselves, why are we so disconnected from other
intelligent life on our planet? Somehow we got lost, we went of
track. We have the bigger brain, so why don't we use it? Oh ya,
that stupid
education problem
that we have. What we think is education, is not education.
Today's education does not help us connect, we must correct
this. We need to be more aware. So the curriculum needs to be
expanded, and this curriculum will be intelligent, because one
of the main goals of this new improved and expanded curriculum,
is to create intelligent people.
Connections - Everything is Connected in Someway
Connected is being
joined in
close
association. Joined or
linked together. Make a
logical or
causal connection. Join by means
of
communication equipment. To establish a
rapport or a
relationship.
Connection is the act of bringing two
things into contact. The state of being
connected. A relation between
things or events. The process of bringing
ideas or
events together in
memory or imagination.
Contact is a close
interaction or the state or condition of touching physically or of being
in
immediate proximity. A communicative
interaction.
Interconnectedness is oneness in all things. All things are of a
single underlying substance and
reality, and that there is no true
separation deeper than appearances.
Law of
Divine Oneness highlights the interconnectedness of all things. It
says that
beyond our senses,
every thought, action, and event is in some way connected to anything and
everything else.
Laws of Nature.
Relation
of Subjects -
Coherence -
Interactions -
Seeing the Whole Picture -
Fractals -
Levels -
Scales
Interdependent is two or more people or
things
dependent on each other.
Interdependent
Networks -
Complex System
-
Hyperconnectivity
Interconnectivity refers to the state or quality of being
connected
together. The concept is widely used in various fields such as biology,
network theory, and ecology. It can be further elaborated as all parts of
a system, which interact with one another and cannot be analyzed if
considered alone. Despite subtle differences in meaning, interconnectivity
is often related to the ideas of interconnectedness and
interdependence.
Integrant is making part of a whole
or necessary to constitute an entire thing.
Integral is existing as an essential
constituent or characteristic. Complete, not damaged or missing elements
and has all connections and parts.
Coexist -
Feedback Loops -
ReciprocationSubset
is a
part of a larger group of
related things. A set whose members are members of another set; a set
contained within another set. The relationship of one set being a
subset of another is
called inclusion or sometimes containment. The Earth is a subset of the
solar system, the solar system is a subset of the galaxy, and the galaxy
is a subset of the
Universe.
Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach,
primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human
culture by way of their
relationship to a
broader system. It works to
uncover the structural
patterns
that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel.
The belief that phenomena of human life are not intelligible except
through their interrelations. These
relations constitute a
structure, and behind
local variations in the surface phenomena there are constant laws of
abstract structure.
Structural Functionalism is a framework for building theory that sees
society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote
solidarity and stability.
Social Structure
(wiki).
For every
action a human takes there is a
reaction in the world. Most reactions are unnoticed because the
impact is not so obvious, or in some cases not totally in sync
with the action of the human. So even doing nothing will still
have an effect on the world. So it is only logical that every
human understands these effects and understands their
responsibilities to minimize negative effects and to maximize
positive effects.
All actions and inactions have a reaction.
"A human being is
part of the whole, called by us
"
universe,"
a part limited in time and space. He experiences
himself, his
thoughts and feelings as something
separated from the rest - a kind of
optical delusion of
his
consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for
us, restricting us to our
personal desires and to
affection for a few
persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this
prison by
widening our circle of
compassion to embrace
all living
creatures and the whole [of] nature in its
beauty." -
Albert
Einstein
1950.
You can't
sum it all up
when you leave out everything that made the sum possible. Like trying to
sum up life using just a few words.
Biophilia
Hypothesis suggests that humans possess an
innate tendency to seek
connections with nature and other forms of life.
Edward O. Wilson
introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book, Biophilia (1984).
He defines biophilia as "the urge to
affiliate with other forms of life".
One world is a fact of life, except for
those who live in a
fantasy world.
It's easy to feel disconnected when you lack knowledge and information.
Even ancient cultures knew the power of knowledge.
Tribal wisdom may seem primitive to
outsiders, but they are more aware and more knowledgeable about their
environment than most people who live in modern countries. Living in a
developed country does more
harm than good when most of the minds are
underdeveloped. We
need to
grow intellectually and
grow
sustainably and
symbiotically, and also be
fair to
everyone at the same time. That's development.
Biological Network -
Networks -
Mushrooms
Quantum
Entanglement is a physical phenomenon that occurs when pairs or groups
of
particles are generated or interact
in ways such that the
quantum state of
each particle
cannot be described independently of the others, even when
the particles are separated by a large distance—instead, a
quantum state
must be described for the system as a whole. (could make communication
over long distances possible, instant transmission).
Billions of quantum entangled electrons found in 'strange metal'.
Quantum Teleportation is a process in which quantum information (e.g.
the exact state of an atom or photon) can be transmitted (exactly, in
principle) from one location to another, with the help of classical
communication and previously shared
quantum entanglement between the
sending and receiving location. Because it depends on classical
communication, which can proceed no faster than the speed of light, it
cannot be used for faster-than-light transport or communication of
classical bits. While it has proven possible to teleport one or more qubits of information between two (entangled) quanta, this has not yet
been achieved between anything larger than molecules. Although the name is
inspired by the teleportation commonly used in fiction, quantum
teleportation is limited to the transfer of information rather than matter
itself. Quantum teleportation is not a form of transportation, but of
communication: it provides a way of immediately transferring a qubit from
one location to another without having to move a physical particle along
with it.
Teleportation -
Telepathy
Two qudits fully entangled. A new way to entangle high-dimensional
quantum systems.
Long-distance quantum teleportation enabled by multiplexed quantum
memories. Researchers report having achieved
quantum teleportation from a photon to
a solid-state qubit over a distance of 1km, with a novel approach using
multiplexed quantum memories. Quantum teleportation is a technique
allowing the transfer of quantum information between two distant quantum
objects, a sender and a receiver, using a phenomenon called quantum
entanglement as a resource. The unique feature of this process is that the
actual information is not transferred by sending quantum bits (qubits)
through a communication channel connecting the two parties; instead, the
information is destroyed at one location and appears at the other one