Blog Post 11/27

        The growing human population is creating a need for resources that may not be available in the next century. The demand for food will double by 2050, and triple by 2100, which is not sustainable. Also, water will be scarce as it is wasted on creating luxury products, 2,700 liters for a bar of chocolate.
        The growth of the human population will negatively impact the environment as the destruction of natural habitats will increase dramatically, creating a loss of biodiversity. Also, with the destruction of habitat will come a loss of ecosystem function, hurting our already scarce resources.
Will population growth slow down in time to achieve sustainability? Will I have to do blog posts over winter break?

Article for 11/20

The quality of a banana that consumers love- consistency- is the genetic downfall of the fruit. The plantations that currently provide North America and Europe with their favorite fruit are at risk of disease, the cavendish is being wiped out by the panama fungus. Scientists are trying to create a genetically modified fruit that resists the disease and plantations in central america are trying to breed a consumer welcome replacement.
This circumstance exemplifies the idea that low genetic diversity may leads to a species being unresistant to disease. The loss of these plants would also effect their ecosystems, as they provide shade to growing plants underneath them.
Would a genetically modified plant serve the same function in the ecosystem?

Article 11/13

Euryodendron excelsum is a very rare species of tree, less than 200 individuals, that lives in Southeastern China. China's industrial nature creates a constant threat to the plant, land clearing and wood cutting are constant threats. Previous research into saving this tree have focused on biological and ecological aspects of endangerment, but a new study by Yunnan University focuses on the microbes living around the tree's roots. 

The study of microbes relates to environmental science as understanding the microscopic aspects of an ecosystem will allow for a greater understanding of its function as a whole. Also, a better understanding of microbes will allow for greater accuracy when trying to rebuild lost habitat. 

When recreating lost habitat, would any microbe of a similar ecosystem if brought in would improve ecosystem function? 

Article 11/6

A few Filipino marines have been living on a wrecked ship in the Southern Pacific Ocean in order to maintain their hold on the area. China has been flooding the area with ships trying to obtain full ownership of the fishery and oil. The men on the ship are struggling to survive, and are constantly watched by a rotation of Chinese ships.

The shift of ownership to the Chinese would affect the ecosystem of the fisheries as they would be greatly harvested. This reduction of the fish population would reduce the function of the ecosystem as a whole. 

Would the placement of oil rigs in the area have a greater or lesser affect on the fish population than would over harvesting?

Article 10/22

The current culmination of human effect and climate change is a greatly amplified version of the events that caused extinctions of large mammals such as the wooly mammoth in the Pleistocene era. Current calculations, using the modest estimate of 10 million species in the world, predict that 1 million species are at risk for extinctions due to changing conditions. Currently, the world's biologically unique environments have lost 70% of their high quality habitat.
These extinctions relation to environmental science for many reasons. Primarily, the loss of species will directly effect their environments because food sources and/or predators will be lost, causing shifts in food webs and balances. Also, the synergy effect may take place and add the changing climate, human impacts, and species loss into an even greater change than expected, creating massive shifts within the environment.
Is there any way to reverse the effects of species loss once they have occurred?

Article for 10/16

North Dakota recently experienced an oil spill, 20,000 gallons, the largest in the state's history. Since the introduction of the Bakken shale oil, North Dakota has become the second most lucrative state in oil production. When the leak was discovered, the spill posed no threat to the groundwater of the area.
This article applies to Environmental Science because this large leak of crude oil will cause a major change in the environment of the area, affecting local ecosystems. The area surrounding the spill may not return to its prior state because the plants and animals affected may never reach their previous potential.
One questions is how was the species richness and evenness affected by the oil spill.

Article 9/25

Researchers form Brown University and Washington University found that nitrogen isotopes ratios have changed significantly in the past 300 years, especially between 1950 and 1985. They believe that this change in the nitrogen cycle is caused by the increased combustion of fossil fuels, which has greatly increased in the past 60 years. Introducing this new source of nitrogen to its cycle has greatly increased the nitrogen stored in the atmosphere. This is a problem because the released nitric oxide binds with other elements  and forms smog and acid rain which affect multiple environments. Also, the increase of nitrogen in the atmosphere has effected lake chemistry by causing organic nitrogen decline. Is it possible for these changes to be reversed?