Friday, November 21, 2014

Hot Spot Activity

a. The madrean pine-oak woodlands are found in mexico.

b. 85% of all oak trees, and the Montezuma quail

c. stuff happens when humans get involved.

d. logging is the biggest threat to the animals and plants of this region

e. 6% of the area is under protection.

f. lots of the plants in animals are endemic to this region.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Big 4 blog

Human Impact:

For those who live near oceans and rely on the ocean to supply their food are being over-run by the commercial fishers that are depleting the ocean of fish hundreds at a time. since a lot of the population live near oceans the over fishing effects most of the world population

Environmental Impact: 

Over-fishing causes harm to marine life and could lead to permanent damage. Because a vast majority of our waste and industrial run-off goes into the oceans it causes marine pollution - threatening life in the sea at all levels.

Economic Impact:

The pollution of the oceans also leads to a impact in the economy: such as tourism the pollution makes the water dirty and filled with chemicals making the area much less pleasurable to be - just like the BP oil spill a few years ago. Along with all the other chemical run off and other oil spill time and money have to be put into a way to contain and stop these so it does not spread further.

Governmental Legislation:

New Zealand limited the amount of fishing that could be done to attempt to counteract the affects of over fishing. another way to counteract the over fishing is what New Zealand has also done and made Marine Protected Areas.





Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Unit 2 questions

What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is the short term, like right now, and climate is the long term like the weather over the year.

What effect does Earth’s rotation have on atmospheric circulation and ocean currents?
It creates both atmospheric circulation and ocean currents


In what ways are atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns similar? How are they different?

Atmospheric circulation influences the patterns of ocean currents but one is water and one is air.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Lorax Questions

Kyle Tubbs
Alexandra Hills
Conrad Norris

1.  What is the Lorax?  What is his role in the book?

He speaks for the trees and his role is protect the environment

2.  Roosevelt and Pinchot’s policies, called utilitarian conservation, state that forests should be saved “not because they are beautiful or because they shelter wild creatures of the wilderness, but only to provide homes and jobs for people.”  Keeping this in mind, compare and contrast the Once-ler’s way of business to Roosevelt and Pinchot’s idea of forestry.

Onceler used the trees without planting them back where Roosevelt would have wanted them to be planted at same time.

3.  John Muir, a geologist, author and first president of the Sierra Club, opposed Pinchot’s ideas.  His outlook, biocentric preservation, emphasizes the fundamental right of other organisms to exist and to pursue their own interests.  Which character in the book has similar views to Muir and why are these views so controversial today?  
The Lorax, many feel that human progress is diminishing the lives of other animals.

4.  Rachel Carson, considered by many to be the “mother of environmentalism”, added a new set of concerns to the environmental agenda.  She awakened the public to the threats of pollution and toxic chemicals.  Discuss the different toxins that were produced in the production of the thneed.

during the film both smog, litter, and the goop in the river were toxins produced by the factory.

5.  Though the Once-ler polluted the area where he lived, environmentalists have now concluded that the new concern for our planet should be one of global environmentalism, because we are all interconnected and events that occur on the other side of the globe have profound and immediate effects on our lives.   List three things that could have global effects in the production of the thneed.

The rising co2 levels from the smog, pollution of water supply's, changes in food webs from migrating animals

6.  Many environmental problems are interconnected and can have compounding effects.  After reading “The Lorax”, look at the list below and discuss the implications of how any two or more of the items can cause a worsened environmental effect.

Energy consumptionWaste disposal
Human population explosionDeforestation
Loss of biodiversityWater pollution
Soil erosionGlobal warming
Food shortagesPolitical unrest

The deforstation and loss of bio diversity would contribute to each other creating worsened environmental effects by ensuring inability to recover.

7.   How would the thneed factory be different in a developing country versus a developed one?  Discuss issues such as raw material use, waste disposal, energy consumption and worker rights.
 In a developing country they have to build there own building while skimping on materials creating more pollution

8.  In the last part of the book, the Lorax uses the word “unless”.  What does that mean and how can you, as an average citizen make a difference in the environment.
 Unless we start caring about the environment it will be destroyed. We can be conscious consumers and write to our senators

9.  Many economists argue that the solution to the Lorax’s dilemma is found in properly defined property rights.  What does this mean and how would this solve the problem?
If enough land is set aside for the environment and for industry then deforestation should be all but eliminated.