q1-7

Typhoon Haiyan: Red Cross estimates monster storm left 1,200 dead in Philippines

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/09/21381516-typhoon-haiyan-red-cross-estimates-monster-storm-left-1200-dead-in-philippines?lite

Update to my earlier blog about typhoon Haiyan

This an update article of one of my earlier blogs. The death toll is rising well above 1000 people. The storm is on the path to Vietnam where it could cause even more damage and deaths. 1,000 people alone died in tacloban and at least 200 more in the Samar province. The hardest hit island was Leyte Island. The Red Cross is there trying to rescue trapped people and provide them with food. The U.S should also help them out by sending some supplies there because the people are really suffering. This is bad because the Philippines already suffers from 20 typhoons a year and they don't even have time to recover from the past storms. Since the country is made up of many islands, it is hard to evacuate because the waves rise and roll into the cities. Many places are almost completely under water. Winds were up to 200 mph which places it in a category five storm which is the highest.


I think that The Philippines needs all the help it can get from all of the countries around the world. The people have no shelter, food, or water. People in the expected areas of Vietnam must evacuate before it is too late because the storm will destroy anything in its path. This storm is one of the biggest recorded storms in history.

Tacloban- The province that got hit the worst by the storm, large percentage of the people that live here are poor and since it's on the coasts of an island it got huge amounts of waters flooding the towns completely.

q1-6

Preparing for Hell and High Water: Researchers Advocate for Climate Adaptation Science

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131107142526.htm

Global Warming

This article is about what we've been talking about in class. Its about the increasing risk of global warming and the dangers of increasing water level. The article also talks about climate control efforts. I thought the article will be more about the actual projected water levels in certain places but it doesn't talk about rising water that much. The article states that climate preparedness research needs to integrate social and climate science, engineering, and other disciplines. The article also states the 4 challenges of climate control "The four challenges are:

• Understanding what information is needed to make decisions about adapting to climate change
• Identifying vulnerabilities in society, the economy and the environment
• Improving forecasts and climate models in ways that can address specific problems
• Providing technology, management, and policy options for adapting."

I think that the most important challenges to overcome are the first and the fourth. The first is needed to start the actual plans for climate control while the last challenge is needed to actually start the movement. I think that it is important that we get the plan underway as soon as possible. I'm hoping that within the next year we will have a plan set up instead of just talking about possible plans and challenges.

Aspen Workshop- A workshop run by An institute(Aspen Center for Physics)  run by physicists to work on solving pivotal issues including global warming and ozone. It is sponsored by NASA, The national Science foundation, and many other groups and universities. It is a huge research organization.

q1-5

Super typhoon Haiyan slams central Philippines, millions seek shelter

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/08/us-philippines-typhoon-idUSBRE9A603Q20131108

Global Warming

The article is about a typhoon that is the biggest storm to ever touch ground on earth. The projected winds  of the storm are over 200 miles per hour. The storm will destroy everything in its path. It hit the Philippines on friday and it left over 2 million looking for shelter. An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year. There has been in increase in the amount of natural disasters on earth through time and this is a direct effect of global warming. Much of the parts that got hit are among the poorest of the Phillippines. This reminds me of Hurricane Katrina because most of the worst hit areas of New Orleans were already very poor.

I think that we need to reduce all green house gases as soon as possible because obviously other parts of the world are feeling the consequences of global warming. I also think that every country that can afford it, should send food, water, and shelter to the Philippines. I hope the world enacts a plan to help the countries that constantly get affected by natural disasters. I also hope everyone can agree on a plan to lower green house gases.

Cebu- Second biggest city in the Philippines home to around 2.5 million people and it got hit severely by the storm.

q1-4

Oil Spills Becoming Frequent Hazard for Fishermen Near Mumbai

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/oil-spills-becoming-frequent-hazard-for-fishermen-near-mumbai/?ref=earth&_r=0

 

Chapter 3(ocean biome)

This article tells a very touching story about a fisherman who can not support his family because the fish and crabs he catch are not edible. The crabs and fish were all floating on the surface of the water and they were stained with a dark blackish brown color from the oil. The oil spills are frequent and in 2010, 800 tons of oil was spilled into the Indian Ocean making it detrimental for all fisherman in the region. Not only are the fisherman affected, but the whole oceanic ecosystem is as well as the people that eat mostly fish because it is cheaper in some areas.

 

I think that the government of India and any countries near the Indian Ocean should set laws that make sure ships are inspected before they leave any harbor because obviously they are doing something wrong if the oil spills are common. I understand that India is a developing country but they still need to inspect boats at all costs because if not, the fisherman and consumers have to lose out on their income. Now the project is to first clean up all of the oil and then forge a plan to prevent the spills from happening.

 

Tarballs- A ball of petroleum that forms because of weathering in the oceans, very potent pollutant.

 



Q1-3

 

Air quality still not good in European cities

http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/46553

 

Chapter 5 (climate)



This article is about the severity of air pollution in Europe. 90 percent of European cities have more than the healthy amount of air pollutants. 98 percent of city dwellers in Europe have been exposed to ozone above the WHO guidelines. The exposure to all of these pollutants increases chance of cardiovascular disease and breathing problems, the length of life can even be shortened if nothing is done to bring down harmful emissions.

 

I  think that every country in the world needs to act fast to bring down the overall air pollution or else the earth will heat fairly quickly and many lakes and water sources can become contaminated and sensitive organisms will die. Aside from the rest of the world, Europe needs to act even faster because there is already an increased chance in breathing and heart problems because of air pollution. Air pollution in Europe has always been a problem since the 1800's in England

 

EEA- European Environmental Assosiation is in charge of making plans to improve the environment in Europe, need to draft a plan quickly.



Q1-2

 

Biodiversity Action Plan

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/b/biodiversity_action_plan.htm

 

Chapter 3- (biodiversity)

  This article is about the overview of biodiversity and the status of animals. A BAP is a Biodiversity Action Plan which is a program that helps to protect the existance of many types of species. The point of the plan is to keep the biodiversity up so that ecosystems can be more stable. 188 countries signed the bill to help keep biodiversity constant but only a few actually developed a plan to help the environment. Conservation status is the severity of how little of a species there are.  Biodiversity hot spots are still thriving with biodiversity and they are very stable environments, usually away from civilization.

I think that all of the 188 countries need to follow through with their plans to maintain biodiversity in the environment. Once the 188 countries all achieve their plans and goals, then the remaining countries can follow the band wagon and maybe even get a small incentive such a money incentive. I think that if we want to keep this world going for as long as possible we need to take biodiversity strictly and we are making good steps toward keeping biodiversity stable but we aren't quite there yet.

 

Seedbank- A place where seeds are stored in the case of all of the normal seeds die



Q1-1

 

 

 

World Ocean Systems Undermined by Climate Change by 2100

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131015191401.htm

Chapter 2- Biomes (Ocean)

This Article deals with a global problem because the whole ocean will be affected by 2100.

The article states that by 2100, every single part of the ocean will be affected by pollution and climate change. The most interesting fact about it is that 470-870 million of the world's poorest people rely on the ocean for food, jobs ,and revenues. By 2100, the CO2 concentration is projected to be up to 900 ppm or parts per million. If the world launches a mitigation effort to help keep the CO2 down, the concentration will only be 550 ppm if we start the efforts soon. Phytoplankton, which are essential for the stability of the oceans are going to diminish up to 10% which means the carbon concentration will increase more and more as there are less photosynthetic organisms.

 

I think that we are running out of time and we need to make an effort to bring CO2 levels down in the oceans. If we don't act quickly, there wont be much of a positive change because it may already be too much of a problem by the time we set a plausible plan to stabilize the oceans.

 

 

Mitigation- The action of reducing the severity and seriousness of something.