Atmospheric Waves Trapped by Emissions Caused Extreme U.S. Heat

Atmospheric Waves Trapped by Emissions Caused Extreme U.S. Heat
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-25/atmospheric-waves-trapped-by-emissions-caused-extreme-u-s-heat.html

Picture: This is a picture of the sun. Green house gasses are trapping air waves in the atmosphere, causing major heat waves.


Summary: Green house gasses, caused by man, are trapping air waves in the atmosphere. This is causing extreme weather, such as heat waves, and flash floods. Man made climate changes disturb the way waves usually move cold and warm air. In recent weather, the waves have just stopped moving for weeks. Instead of bringing cold air in after warm air, warm air just stays, causing major heat waves. President Obama has now admitted that climate change is a top priority in his second term in office. He says that " heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and flood are now more frequent and intense." Scientists at the Potsdam Institutes discovered that global warming disrupts temperature changes, which are a driving force for air flow, trapping the waves in the atmosphere.  


Opinion/ Reflection:
I honestly wasn't surprised to hear that global warming is yet the cause of other extreme weather. It has been effecting the climate so much lately, and I am happy to hear that President Obama is making it a priority to fix this issue. The government of each country needs to step up and take this more seriously before the rest of the world will. They need to do something about global warming before it is too late, and the climate, many ecosystems, and many habitats are destroyed.

Questions:

1- Why is it so important to help stop the production of green house gasses?
2- Why are the waves in the atmosphere so important to the climate?
3- Why are temperature changes so important to the climate?
4- What do you think President Obama needs to do to raise the awareness about man made green house gasses, and hopefully stop the production of them?
5- What are man made green house gasses doing to the atmosphere?

Rock Hyrax Urine Offers Clues About Climate Change

Rock Hyrax Urine Offers Clues About Climate Change             

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/20/rock-hyrax-urine-offers-clues-about-climate-change/

Picture: This image shows a Rock Hyrax and its urine. The climate change can be shown through the traces of this animals urine. The worse the climate gets, it can be traced through this animals urine.

Summary: The Rock Hyrax is a furry little mammal that is located in Africa and Asia in rock fissures. But recently scientists have found out that in a Rock Hyrax's urine they can find traces of climate change. A Rock Hyrax's habitat is where they found this information because these specific mammals stay close to there home. In there home or burrow they live,eat, and urinate in the same exact spot for centuries. So with this information scientists could find the climate change for the past decades or centuries. The Rock Hyrax urine has been building up in their burrow for approximately 55,000 years. A quote by Brian M. Chase says that Rock Hyrax's pee in the same exact are every single time. You might be wondering how they can find this information with just urine? Well since the Hyrax urinates in the same exact spot for many years the pee starts to thicken and dry and that contains pollen, grass, leaves, and gas bubbles. With this information scientists can get very valuable, useful information.    

Opinion/Reflection: This article was very interesting in my opinion. It was also pretty gross to, I could just imagine like 6 inches of dried gooey urine in their house. The things scientists can find from the strangest things are just truly amazing. In my opinion we should further look into animals for climate change and environmental changes in the ecosystem. I personally think that we can find more useful information in those areas. Also I wondered how this specific could be around for this long, are they from prehistoric times?   

Questions(3-5)

1. Do you think this study will lead to many more studies involving this subject?
2. What do you think about this ground-breaking discovery?
3. How will this information affect your overall life?
4. Do you think there is any other information that can be found about the Rock Hyrax, if so give examples?

Report suggests feeding polar bears to save the species

Report suggests feeding polar bears to save the species
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/report-suggests-feeding-polar-bears-save-species

Picture: This image shows how climate change is effecting polar bears. Because of global warming the ice, which is the polar bears home, is melting. As the ice melts, it makes it harder for the polar bears to hunt and find food. This is causing many problems for the polar bears located all over the north.

Summary: Polar bear experts feel polar bears are in a crisis with starvation. Because of global warming and climate change, obtaining food for themselves has grown to be a harder task than it used to be. Experts brainstormed ideas to try to help them. One of their more favorable ideas is to feed the polar bears. They have done this before with other species and think it could benefit the bears. Experts calculated the cost to be approximately one million dollars a month, and think it would be worth the cost if it helped them. This idea has caused debates because another side feels this idea would not work. The other side argues that polar bears are predators and need to hunt on their own. They also feel that if we did supply food to the bears it could possibly cause more harm to humans.

Opinion/Reflection: I think feeding the bears is not a good idea. Although I believe we are contributing to their suffering and we should help, this does not seem like a reasonable way. I understand I am not an expert in this subject, but it seems to me that it would be impossible to feed enough bears, daily, to make an impact on the starvation problem. Also, the price seems extreme to me. One million dollars a month seems like a lot, and to have to pay that money towards a cause that might fail seems unreasonable. What if in five years we realize feeding the bears is not helping, then all that money would have been wasted. I believe their is a more logical and less economically crippling way to help save the polar bear species.

Questions:
1- What are some negative effects of feeding the polar bears?
2- Why should humans feel responsible to help the polar bears?
3- What are some other ideas we could use to help the polar bears?
4- If we decided not to do anything to help the polar bears, what effect might this have on them?

Wildflowers at risk from ’safe’ levels of pollution

By Lauren Eskin

Article By Dr Richard Payne & Professor Nancy Dise

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/45580            

Picture: This is a picture of a harebell, one of the flowers mentioned in the article that was found to be much less common in areas with high nitrogen levels. This is one of many species of flowers facing this crisis, in addition to the creeping buttercup and the yarrow. Regions with very low levels of pollution are also lacking these species, and the issue is not yet recognized by most people.

Summary: A recent study conducted in various locations all over Europe has shown that high levels of nitrogen are greatly decreasing the quantity of many species of plants. This especially applies to wildflowers, such as the harebell shown above. Although this is not particularly common knowledge, it is even less likely for people to know about the discovery that in certain places, lower levels of air pollution are actually decreasing the amount of plants in some species. Even levels “below the legally-recognized 'safe' level,” as stated in the article. This is assumed to be because ecosystems have already been exposed to higher levels of pollution for so long that they are accustomed to it, therefore are being negatively affected by the drop in air pollution as people are taking action against it. This, along with the nitrogen issue are not widely recognized, but they still need to be dealt with. Nitrogen pollution had caused big problems for countries in Europe, costing them billions a year, although the amount has been reduced by the decrease in the burning of fossil fuels.

Opinion/Reflection: I thought it was strange to see a new side of the general air pollution problems I hear about often. I never thought that the decrease in pollution could actually be killing some species of plants and flowers. However I feel that the high nitrogen levels are even more important, and more action needs to be taken to bring them down. We can really try to limit our burning of fossil fuels, because it is a major contributor to this issue. Keeping these plants alive will do more than just make the world look prettier- it will keep the ecosystem in check. Every living thing has a place in the ecosystem, and these different pollution issues could really be upsetting the natural balance of things. It is so important to be environmentally conscious, and this is just one example why.

Questions:

1 – What are the two factors contributing to the decrease in plant species across Europe?

2 – What is one way to decrease the amount of nitrogen pollution in the air?

3 – Explain why losing these plants has an impact on the environment in general.

4 – Are there any other factors you think might be contributing to this problem?

5 – Explain why the decrease of air pollution may actually be killing species of plants and flowers.

Global worming: how worms are accelerating climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/feb/05/how-worms-accelerating-climate-change

Picture: This graphic depicts earthworms moving through soil carried by human hands. Last week, this article makes a shocking revelation about these earthworms that may have something to do with recent climate changes.

Summary: Everyone knows that earthworms are useful for soil fertility, but what if there is something more to these slimy creatures? Recently last week, this article reveals that these worms could have something to do with climate change that could affect life as we know it. We know that earthworms play a huge role in soil, but according to a news study posted on Nature Climate Change, researchers in Holland, the U.S., and Colombia compiled results from 237 separate experiments to explore the earthworm's roles in global greenhouse gas emissions. Believe it or not, 20% of global carbon dioxide comes from the soil, and the authors of this study believe that earthworms are the soil ecosystem engineers that could have been the cause of global warming. However, recently, scientists are facing a problem with these earthworms, given the fact that they can increase emissions from the soil. They found out that these worms can help the soil store carbon more efficiently, permanently locking that carbon away. The most shocking thing, however, is that earthworms, or worms of any kind, can increase the usage of one greenhouse gas while reducing usage of other greenhouse gases. According to the study, "although earthworms are largely beneficial to soil fertility, they increase net soil greenhouse-gas emissions." The study does mention a few things that could make some sense, such as the growth of organic fertilizers would provide more food for the earthworms, while changing environmental conditions could reduce worm population. However, despite these earthworms' efforts, there is still a possibility that these earthworms may have some involvement with global climate change that is still left a mystery.

Opinion/Reflection: I was extremely surprised as to the fact that earthworms are suddenly playing a role in global climate change. It's very strange that a study would suggest that earthworms played a role in global greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, I have read in that article that the earthworms' influence on global climate change will increase rapidly. This study, however, while it shows that earthworms have a role in global greenhouse gas emission, concerns me that earthworms would have something to do with global climate change that we see recently. If we believe that earthworms are resulting in a net increase in greenhouse gases, I personally believe that more research should be discovered about these earthworms to determine how these earthworms can result in global climate change that can affect life as we know it today.

Questions:
1. Why would earthworms could be contributing to global climate change according to the study?
2. Why is "global worming" something that we should be concerned about?
3. How do earthworms result in a net increase in greenhouse gases?
4. According to the study, what are some possible conclusions that could make scientists believe that earthworms play a role in global climate change? 
5. Why do scientists believe that we should be concerned about earthworms increasing greenhouse gases in the soil?