The Corals Reefs--rainforest of the sea. Coral Reefs are the largest marine ecosystem and are facing soon extinction. Coral Reefs are defined as a ridge of rock in the sea formed by the growth and deposit of coral. Being the largest marine ecosystem, it is home to twenty-five percent of marine life (aprox. two million species), including sponges, sea anemones, fishes, crabs, and more. With its importance in marine life, its extinction is causing great worry. Due to global warming, coral bleaching is occurring. Coral bleaching is when sea water temperatures rise to cause the exponential growth of algae inside the coral reefs. As the algae grows, it covers the coral reefs, fish do not want to eat the algae, the algae continues to grow into a seaweed, killing both the coral reefs and small fish that no longer have food. As an ecosystem is a closely knit web connecting all species, the small fish which have died can no longer be a food supply for larger fish, causing the ecosystem to fall as each specie dies. Coral bleaching has long term effects, as algae spreads along the Coral Reef, causing death from coral predators and disease (coral predators are able to hurt coral reef as it becomes weaker from algae and disease). Even with the growth of new Coral Reefs or the recovery of the current Coral Reefs, it is inevitable that another major disturbance will occur. Unless we stop the our production of global warming (by recycling, not using of fossil fuels), the Coral Reefs can be saved. This article is important as currently, we are facing one the most harmful extinctions caused by humans. This is just one of numerous endangerments of animals due to humans. Global warming is seen to be the reason for all detrimental effects of our Earth, raising the importance of why we need to take action and help reduce/end global warming. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/great-barrier-reef-corals-dying-bleaching-climate-change-ecosystem-damage-a7380596.html
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South Africa, home to the endangered elephants, rhinos, & parachuting dogs? In South Africa, about 100 elephants are killed each day for their ivory and in 2015, over 1,000 rhinos were killed for their horns. With their populations continuing to decline due to poachers, organizations have decided to take action. One of these organizations is the Paramount Anti-Poaching Group. The Paramount Anti-Poaching group main goal is to capture poachers who are killing Africa's endangered animals. Of course, they cannot catch the poachers themselves, so with that they list the help of dogs. Paramount currently has over 200 dogs enrolled, as dogs help poachers since they are "fast enough to sniff out and catch suspected poachers before they can vanish into the bush". These dogs needs to be at the site ahead of time in order to find the poachers committing their crime, so the dogs and their rangers have routine patrols in helicopters. During their patrols, when they catch any suspicious activity, dogs and their rangers parachute from the sky and are quick to action. Paramount Anti-Poaching Group has already been successfully in saving numerous rhinos and are now working to help elephants.
This article is important as it highlights the issues present in South Africa. As elephants and rhinos are endangered and becoming extinct, extra measures must be taken, leading to parachuting dogs. As these actions have been helping save rhinos, it can now help the elephants and soon many more animals around the world. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/wildlife-watch-skydiving-dogs-poaching-training-program-johannesburg-elephants/ Common on news headlines are stories of hurricanes and storms, all causing massive flooding. But with all these events aside, we tend to forget other environmental issues present, one issue being the drought. Currently, the droughts affects the areas of the western states, upper east states, and southern states. But most prominent, is the severe drought issues present in the central valley of California. When looking at the issue of droughts, we must look at the different ways it is perceived. The Meteorological drought is when rainfall is below average. The agricultural drought is based upon water use related to crops. The drought issue is seen more of an creeping issue, rather than an immediate issue, which is why it is often ignored. But for this case, ignorance is not bliss, as drought monitors show our home, the central valley is a D3/D4 area. Drought monitors are created weekly by the collaboration of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration & the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while using all aspects of the water cycle (rainfall, hydrology, vegetation conditions, soil moisture) to make the monitor. Upon seeing how the drought affects where you live, the importance is to create an individualized plan of how to limit water usuage and look into how the drought will affect you in the future.
The article shows importance as the central valley is depicted in a severe drought (D3/D4). Steps to help limit water have included certain watering days for homes. But yet, many living in the central valley tend to overlook the issue of the drought, as their reasoning includes "there is still water available". Yes, water may be available, but it is limited and there is a great importance to act now and help save water because when the water is gone, it will be too late to act now. http://blog.ucsusa.org/andrea-basche/preparing-for-severe-climate-events-a-qa-with-drought-experts?_ga=1.86784856.1155440949.1473982531
Global warming is a serious and real issue, yet there are many people who are still skeptical about it all. These people who believe that global warming is fake find support on their reasoning through myths. One common myth is "it's not bad". This myth is untrue as rising CO2 levels cause negative impacts in agriculture, health, and environment. Agriculture is harmed as the severity of droughts and floods lead to the struggle to grow food and raise animals. Environment is harmed as rising sea levels harm ecosystems as they change, so the plants and animals must adapt quickly or go extinct. Health is harmed as increasing air pollution causes deaths and more respiratory illnesses. Studied by Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson, it was found a rise in temperature of one degree celsius due to greenhouse gases lead to 20,000 air pollution related deaths worldwide. Another myth is "it's cooling". This is untrue as the last decade was found to be the hottest on record. By NASA, global temperature that has been tracked since 1884 found the ten hottest years to be between 2000 and present, with the data showing global temperature is highest in 2015-- which was the last year of the data in the study. myths: http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php
agriculture & environment : https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts/agriculture.html health: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/co-010908.html global temperature: http://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
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