"ScrAPES #21- Charles River Opens For First Public Swim Since the 1950s"

Article- Charles River Opens For First Public Swim Since the 1950s, Billy Baker, 7/13/2013 (The article is from the worksheet handed out in class) 

Topic: Contaminated Water

Summary:
     Since the 1950s, the Charles River was finally open for the public to swim in. The river received a grade D from the EPA in 1995, but in 2011 it improved majorly and received a B. It took six months for the officials to get permits to allow the public to swim in the Charles River. People described the water being warm with an orange/ beef broth color; however, they continued to swim in the river and enjoyed their time. Furthermore, the bottom of the river is still toxic, but as long as no one touches the bottom people were safe. 
     I chose this article because I wanted to read more about the Charles River and the people's reactions. What I found shocking was the fact that people were allowed to swim in the river even though the bottom of the river remained toxic. It was also shocking to read the people's reactions; they described the color of the water looking weird, but they continued to swim in it which is crazy. 
     This article is important to environmental science because it proves how water contamination is real and not taken seriously. The toxic in the bottom of the water is still going to cause problems for the marine environment and to our health. Our next steps is to really examine the river, and see if it is truly safe to swim in. We should now educate people in what contaminated water can do to our health, and make them realize that swimming in the Charles River is still not safe if it continues to look the way it is. 

"Waste Water Treatment Plant" Reflection

    Deer Island is a waste water treatment plant that is connected to Winthrop. All of the town's  wastewater goes to the Deer Island, and pass through stages before it is dumped into Boston Harbor. First the waste water goes to the pump station that pumps the waste water up. It travels to the 60 grit chambers which spins out inorganic materials. Those materials are put into a truck that will be sent to  landfills in New Hampshire. The rest of the waste water enters the 4 primary tanks, then to the oxygen reactors. After that the waste water goes through a secondary treatment. Finally it goes into chlorination and declaration. After all these steps the waste water is dumped six half miles in the Boston Harbor. The sludge, that the treatments extracted, is recycled and turned into fertilizer called the Bay Set Fertilizer. They have teams that make sure the waste water dumped out into the harbor is not infecting it. 
    It was interesting to know that the Boston Harbor is flourishing, and is in a better condition after they stopped dumping waste water directly into it. This is when they started to do treatments, keeping the Harbor clean and healthy. It is amazing to see the process waste water goes through to be clean enough to be dumped out. The waste water treatment plant is important to the environment because it keeps clean water from being contaminated by the waste water that is dumped out. It keeps marine life flourishing, and helps us to have safe water. 

"Pacific Garbage Patch" Reflection

     Vice sailed out to the North Pacific Gyre to create a documentary on the Pacific Garbage Patch. Much of the trash can not be seen on the surface; however, there are occasions where trash will float up, but most of the trash is underneath the surface of the water and many are fragments, especially of plastic. They discovered that a lot of the garbage is mostly plastic; the ratio between plastic to sea life is 6:1. They took many water samples, and found out micro plastics are floating in the ocean. They said it is impossible to clean up all the trash. It would take about 6.6 billion people during their life time to clean it up. The micro plastics are going to cause environmental and human health issues; fish would eat them then will be consumed by us. Also when plastic brakes down in the water it leaches out toxic chemicals making it harmful for marine life. Our planet is going downhill with all the pollution we are causing, especially water pollution. We are basically eating our own trash that we through away. 
      I agree with what the man said in the documentary about how we need to stop using plastic. If we stop using it the input of it in the ocean will decrease, and the ocean will have a chance to process it. We have become a society that uses to much plastic for everything  Everywhere I go I always see plastic bags on the floor or even up on a tree. It is only causing harm to our environment. I can not believe that our trash is found in the middle of no where out in the ocean. It is really sad knowing that all our trash is being washed out into the ocean causing major problems. I agree something needs to be done. 

EcoBook #31- Food Security

Food security is where people have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that helps them to have an active and healthy life. It meets their dietary needs. Some examples are: fruits, grains, beans, and vegetables. 

EcoBook #30- Sustainability

The sun is a nondepletable energy source that can be characterized as a renewable energy source. No matter how much we use the sun's energy, it will never run out. This is a sustainable way to have energy with out the danger of expiring or depleting it. It is safe and good for the environment. 

EcoBook #29- Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl is when urbanized areas expand into rural areas. It has a landscape with a lot of housing, retails shops, office parks, large roads, and parking. 

"ScrAPES #20- Great Bear Rainforest Protected From Massive Logging"

Podcast- Living on Earth Podcast, Great Bear Rainforest Protected From Massive Logging, week of February 5, 2016, Start: 00:01 End: 07:43

Topic: Protection  

Summary:
     After many years of negotiation between 26 First Nations, five logging companies, three environmentalist groups, provincial government, and local governments they reached a decision that everyone could live with that involves the Great Bear Rainforest. 85% of the Great Bear Rainforest is protected, and 15% is open to logging. This balance is created after the incident of the threat of the markets campaign. 700 people where arrested and there were trials, and it gave the British Colombia's forest products a bad name which prompted them to start negotiating so it does not happen again in the future. In order to keep the balance the First Nations had to be consulted before the government choose a location that is open to logging. 
      I chose this podcast because I wanted to read more about the compromise that took place. What I found interesting was the fact that after so many years a compromise was finally settled. I also found interesting the way the Rainforest was divided up- it seems reasonable. 
     The podcast is important to environmental science because people finally came together and came up with a compromise that protects a large portion of the rainforest. The next step is to continue to come up with ways in which we can still protect the environment, but also cover our needs. We should now try to improve our environment by using alternatives, and looking closely at ways where a compromise can be met that is good for the environment and for us.