ANOTHER BLOGS

This blog is going to be evaluated in the English class, obviously this isn´t the only blog from our class. Here are the links to the another blogs:

* www.wouldyoumindsavingtheearth.blogspot.com


* http://cof-andtheenvironment.blogspot.com


* www.wix.com/tasih_/a-World-made-by-us


* www.wix.com/piiipsy/awonderfulworld

Ice Melting, a consequence of our erratic behaviour

The ice melting is a very serious question from our days and it´s caused by the global warming, which was already mentioned in previous posts.
The ice is melting in both poles and in mountains faster than we initially thought and that represents a huge problem since this ice consists in reserves of freshwater, which is scarce and it increases the possibility of occurring floods (due to the rise of the sea level).
There are also another problems, like the disappearing of huge areas of ice, which leads to the drowning of some species, like the polar bear, that swims for a long time and for a long distance to find some place to stay and where to find food and it ends by forfeiting because all that it sees is water, miles and miles of water.

(SOURCE:http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/tecknopuppy/ArcticIceMelting.jpg)

The ice melting leads to another huge problem since the ice acts like a mirror, it reflects a great part of the sun´s radiation, thus contributing to the balance of the earth´s temperature, so, if the ice melts it can´t reflect so many sun´s radiation and therefore the earth´s temperature increases, leading to the melting of more ice, it is a very serious vicious cycle.

You only have to do some minimum tasks to reduce this effect (related to the global warming) so that you and your sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and therefore, could live in a balanced, healthy and safe world.

Ricardo

SOURCES:

* "WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE":

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1673

* "NOTICIAS. PORTUGAL MAIL" :

http://noticias.portugalmail.pt/artigo/20080417/glaciares-e-neves-derretem-a-ritmo-preocupante

Industrial Revolution

Since the beggining of the industrial revolution that the Earth has been harmed. From desflorestation to make paper, to destroying forests to build cities, and so on. Due to the low nowledge of the the effects of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, that global warming evoluted so much.

source:

http://cadernodematerias.zip.net/images/globall.jpg

Altough the growth of the industries was a good thing, it might kill peolple everyday. The revolution helped bring the world to the 21st century, and aloso helped developed medicine, but on the down side it brought alot of new diseases. Like in the movie " Erin Brokovich", people get sick from the water pollution. So in resume the industrial revolution helped, but back fired making our lifes worse.

source: http://www.istp.murdoch.edu.au/ISTP/casestudies/Case_Studies_Asia/urbwater/E12.jpg

Susana Gomes

The Keeling Curve

The Keeling curve is a graph that shows the concentration of carbon doixide in the Earth's atmosphere. It is based on measurements taken continuously at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii under the supervision of Charles David Keeling. Keeling's measurements showed the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Before Keeling's research and graph's it was thought that the carbon dioxide would vary. This increase in atmospheric CO2 is considered to be growing due to the combustion of fossil fuels, and it has been accelerating in the recent years. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, this has a significant implications in global warming. Measurements of carbon dioxide concentration in ancient air bubbles trapped in polar ice show that it has historically been between 275 and 285 ppmv during the Holocene epoch (9,000 BCE onwards), but started rising sharply at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

source: http://sio.ucsd.edu/keeling/images/Keeling_Curve.jpg

source:

http://www.climatecentral.org/video/whatweknowforsure/images/keeling-curve.png

Susana Gomes

How to prevent Global warming?

Use alternative transports
Consider investing in a hybrid or electric vehicles.
Replace all the lightbulbs in and around your home with energy-efficient fluorescents;
Clean or replace your filters monthly.
Choose energy-efficient appliances;
Wash clothes in cold water and line-dry whenever possible.
Use a low-flow showerhead;
Cut down on your garbage;buy fewer packaged materials;
Unplug electronics when they are not in use;
Run the dishwasher and clothes washer only when you have a full load;
Insulate your home better;
Buy recycled paper products and recycle as much of your waste as possible.
Bring your own reusable canvas grocery bags when grocery shopping.
Plant a tree.
Have an energy audit done on your home so you can find the trouble areas and fix them.
Use nontoxic cleaning products.
Shop locally for food;
Keep your car tuned up, and check tire pressure often to save gas.
Eat less meat and more organic foods in your diet;

Susana Gomes

Causes of global warming

Global warming is caused by:Pollution from factories, carbon dioxide from rotting trees, the burning of coal, natural gasses and fossil fuels lead to methane travelling into the Earth's atmosphere any transportation vehicles, water vapour, and many other little things.
There have been many compaigns to help prevent the growth of global warming, but unless people actually worry about this problem then there will never be any solution.

source:http://webpages.csus.edu/~bm884/global-warming.jpg

Susana Gomes

Reduce the emissions of CO2.. Why?

We all know that CO2 emissions should stop, but, I don’t want to say that it’s an impossible mission but it’s very hard to do.
Let’s take the example of the cars. Cars work with petrol or diesel, both of them come from the oil, and as you know the oil comes from the inside of the Earth. It won’t take long until the world run out oil and most of the cars, if not all of them, would just stop moving – maybe it would be good for our health because people would walk more by foot or by bike – but it would cause lots of problems. So, to solve this trouble, electric cars have been made! They have two engines, an electric one and one that uses petrol or diesel, and with those two – this is the main point - the oil consumption, it wouldn’t stop, but it would decrease a lot and we would be helping our planet because it would also decrease the smokes that go to the atmosphere.
By reducing this emissions, global warming would slow down, by slowing down the global warming so would the ice melting and floods would stop and we wouldn’t have health problems like skin cancer because of the immense heat, and we wouldn’t surely have this much natural disasters on our planet.
















( Source: http://www.ecodebate.com.br/foto/75.jpg )

Gonçalo Monteiro

Renewable Energies

Sunlight, wind, wave power, this are some of the “nature powers”. Renewable energies are those that take advantage of these powers to produce that energy that we use in ours days to cook, to have light at night and so on.
Solar panels are the ones used to store the sun energy and to convert it into electric energy to be used at home. This energy is also use to warm up water that it’s going through a tube and receiving that energy it gets warmer.
The wind, a powerful energy, is usually stored with those windmills that we see on the hills and, basically, they are everywhere but there should be a lot more out there to produce even more energy.
Waves, sometimes we’re at the beach and, out of nowhere, a strong wave appears and put all of our things wet or even drag us down. This power is also exploited by putting a mechanism under the water but that we can see it at surface, not at the beaches because they are usually a bit far from the coast.





















( Sources: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040907/040907_waves_hmed.hmedium.jpg ; http://www.windenergyplanning.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/solar-panels-top-energy.jpg ; http://sponsor.sap.manufacturingcentre.eiu.com/images/photos/windpower.jpg )

Gonçalo Monteiro

Sea Level

Current sea level rise is due partly to global warming, which will increase sea level over the coming century and longer periods. This happens because global warming, as the name refers, is the global temperature that’s raising. If the world’s temperature is raising that will cause the ice melting in the poles, and that ice melting will increase the water that’s already in the seas, and if that happens most of the cities in, not only our country but all the countries in the world, will drown. People won’t probably die because it will happen too slowly but it will make us “pull back” and make it even more difficult to live.
This interested me because, people don’t realize, or maybe they do but they don’t give a damn because it won’t happen right now, only in the next centuries, so the problem will be to our sons, it’s our fault but they are the ones who are going to pay for our mistakes.
Floods will devastate our cities just as you can see.



( Source: http://www.cumbriafire.gov.uk/Images/Carlisle_Floods_1_tcm192-45083.JPG )

Gonçalo Monteiro

Recycling

Recycling involves used materials to make new products to prevent waste of useful materials, reduce the consumption of raw materials, reduce the energy used, reduce air and water pollution.
Dumps, they are one nasty thing to see and to be near of. I’ve been in one with my class some years ago and many of friends felt sick because of the smell and as something to look, well, it isn’t beauty. I don’t dumps to grow because I don’t want to live right next to one, and recycling stops that and the materials that are used can be used again and so the planet won’t lose it’s own substances, for example, paper comes from the trees, not recycling paper will make more trees fall to generate more paper and so on until there are no trees in the planet, and this is one of the many examples I could give to you!
Recycling it just isn’t that hard to do and in the end you’ll feel glad with yourself because you know that you did something good. At my place, we do recycle, we have two bags next to each other. Paper, Glass and Plastics are all put together in one of them the other bag is for the organic waste. Then, it’s just separate them to their different destinations.

(Source: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_199/1193348148292kqh.jpg )

Gonçalo Monteiro

The consequences Global warming and the preventions

The consequences the Global warming are the ozone hole, the disappearance of the year seasons, the acidification, the rise of the water level , the droughts and others phenomenon’s.
One example to provoke Global warming: when we goes to the school or other place, we use the car and others vehicles. This is considering one vice in our world but we should go to the different places using public transportations, bicycle or to walk.
To prevent global warming we should:
- Use public transportations;
- Recycling;
- Save energy;
- And save water.





Carina Henriques

The Greenhouse Effect at Danger

First of all we have to define “Greenhouse effect”. The sun radiation passes through the earth´s atmosphere and most of it is absorbed by the earth´s surface. However, some of the radiation doesn´t even passes the earth´s atmosphere and it is immediately reflected back to space and another percentage of the sun´s radiation is reflected by the earth´s surface (under the form of infra-red) but only a small percentage of these infra-red go back to space and the rest of them are reflected back or absorbed by the earth´s atmosphere, thus warming it. This is the Greenhouse Effect.







(SOURCE: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2005/stro5c0/public_html/greenhouse_effect.jpg )






Why are we talking now more frequently about the Greenhouse Effect than before? The Greenhouse effect is essential for the well-functioning of our planet because it prevents Earth reaching very low temperatures.
Since the Industrial Revolution that Man has been sending gases to our atmosphere with characteristics that increase the Greenhouse Effect (like: Carbon Dioxide and Methane), this is, they help “holding” the infra-red radiation in our atmosphere. As you might now, energy is heat, and infra-red are no exception. More infra-red in our atmosphere lead to an increase of the temperature (known as global warming), leading to so many known problems: ice melting, the increase of the number of natural disasters (like the ones already mentioned in other «posts»), etc.

There are some things that are being done about this problem. Measures were established in the Kyoto Protocol, like removing CFC´s from some products (fresheners for example) and creating and implement filters in the factory´s chimneys.

Despite of these actions there is still a lot to do and each one should help saving our planet, our home.






SOURCES:

* "POLUIÇÃO ATMOSFÉRICA, Poluição Ambiental" :

http://www.rudzerhost.com/ambiente/estufa.htm




Ricardo

Endangered Species

The number of endangered species has been increasing sharply over the last dozens of years.
Endangered specie is ,like the name says, a specie (animal or vegetable) that is in danger of disappearing from the face of the Earth, this is, being extinguished.
The main cause of the mass extinction of species is Man. Due to the deforestation, mainly in South America; a great number of unique vegetable species disappears, not every year, but each month. Animals like the chimpanzees, alligators and many others also disappear due to this deforestation, because their homes are destroyed or the places where they could find their preys disappear.
However we cannot say that deforestation is the main cause of the disappearance of a great quantity of species.
For a long time it existed poachers who hunted a lot of animals (like lions, tigers and crocodiles) to sell their fur or skin as high quality material for clothing which lead to the sharp decrease of some species of wild animals. There are many other causes of this mass extinction that we can see on the video below.
Pandas, tigers, toucans, sea turtles and koalas are only some of the great list of species that are in danger of disappearing.






(SOURCE: http://www.giant-panda.com/panda-munch.jpg )








(SOURCE: http://koalas.org/pair.jpg )







We should react immediately by taking part in associations that defend all the animal rights but especially the ones which defend the endangered species, which are increasing each day.





CLIP FROM A DOCUMENTARY RELATED WITH ANIMAL RIGHTS AND ENDANGERED SPECIES:

Learn about Endangered Species

Ricardo


SOURCES:

* "VIDEO" :

http://www.5min.com/Video/Learn-about-Endangered-Species-117527096

* "MUNDO ANIMAL" :

http://mundo_animal.blogs.sapo.pt/3228.html
http://mundo_animal.blogs.sapo.pt/4498.html

* "DEFINITION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES" :

http://library.thinkquest.org/25014/what/definition.html

Endangered Species

The animals are more and more damage because the pollution that causes several tragic phenomenons. I like very much the animals, they have one life the way us und they shouldn’t be considered different. The species are in endangered because the indifference the people with this problem. As the humans have total power in the world, they forget the problems in us planet and only worrying with their problems. This too happen because the humans activities destroying the animals habitats and too insuring news predators in planet. To prevent the endangered species, we should be careful with defloration and we don’t should pollute the environment.

Carina Henriques

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extin%C3%A7%C3%A3

Transgenics

(picture:http://uk.vwr.com/en_GB/content/product_range/micro_manipulation/images/transgenics.jpg)



I believe that transgenics is a term known by lot of people; however more than that same amount of people doesn´t know what it means and how often we are in contact with them.
What does it mean “Transgenic”? An organism is transgenic when it has DNA from other different organisms. This «DNA input» is done by scientific methods and it has the purpose of improving the original organism.
Transgenics have a scientific purpose (since they can be a cross between two - or even more - organisms that wouldn´t mix together by natural methods or that crossing would take thousands of years, and therefore scientists can study new forms of life), a medicinal one (because they can enhance and highlight some of the medicinal characteristics of an organism - algae’s and some frogs for example)and transgenics are also used as food and therefore they have a commercial purpose (some fruits - for example- are transgenics so they can resist bad weather conditions, grow faster and resist an increased storage time).
Obviously there are some advantages and disadvantages from the use of transgenics.
The creation of some vegetal species which are immune to some diseases and plagues, which results in a decrease of the costs of maintenance (e.g. pesticides) of that same species is one of the advantages of the use of transgenics. The crossing between transgenics and another species is a great disadvantage, since it may cause the birth of mutant species - which affects drastically the ecosystem –.



These amended organisms can cause IMMEDIATE DAMAGES in our environment and it´s my opinion that agriculturists should think twice about putting our planet at stake for economical interests.


Ricardo



SOURCES:

* "ALIMENTOS TRANSGÉNICOS, Ameaça ou Benesse?":

http://legion.geleia.net/AP/tema3.html



* "WIKIPEDIA":

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transg%C3%AAnicos

Tornadoes

A tornado is a violent whirling wind accompanied by a funnel and a cumulonimbus cloud. Known as twister, a tornado can reach several kilometres height and also several miles per hour. Tornadoes are the most violent type of storm.
Tornadoes are frequently happen in regions like Texas and the Southern of the USA and they occur frequently during the spring

Márcio

Cyclones

Cyclones are huge revolving storms caused by winds blowing around a central area. Cyclones begin in tropical regions like Australia and Asia and many other pacific islands. Australia for example has about five or six cyclones every year during the summer. To occur a cyclone the sea must have a temperature of at least 26º C.

Márcio

Tsunamis

I’m gonna talk about tsunamis. A tsunami is often misnamed by tidal wave but it’s completely false. A tsunami is usually series of eight or nines waves. For example in our beaches, the waves are only about one, two metres high but in tsunamis they grow to heights as high as 85 metres. The most causes of tsunamis are seaquakes and earthquakes, in regions like Sri Lanka, Malaisia and Bangladesh in the Pacific islands.

Márcio

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters are natural occurring events which can directly or indirectly cause threats to public health or well-being.
Natural disasters can only be dealt with a good planning and a good preparation. There are many examples of natural disasters like: cyclones, tornadoes, avalanches, fires, droughts, earthquakes, seaquakes, tsunamis. In my opinion natural disasters are dangerous events that take away lifes and homes.

Márcio

The fires

The fires are one cause of Greenhouse Effect because grow of the temperature the planet but not only. The Greenhouse Effect happen because the humans actions. People haven’t without careful with the planet and this reflects in nowadays. They polluted the environment with trash on the floor and through hard chemicals to the floor. I think the people should think in this and show worry. If it was like these majorities the problems in planet were prevented and we are more rested.

Carina Henriques

http://ferrus.blogs.sapo.pt/arquivo/fogos.jpg

Global warming

Global warming is a broad extension climatic phenomenon. It is refered to the rise of the temperature of oceans and air near the Earth’s surface. It is thought the cause of Greenhouse Effect is the increase of human origin pollution’s concentration in the air, although, there are no certainties.
I think this phenomenon it’s very worry because the temperature of oceans and the climatic problems grow. If these problems happen they will bring serious problems to the planet. Sometimes I think this phenomenon and I have scared because it’s so confusing and impressive that hard to think, but it’s difficult too prevent this.

Carina Henriques