[HW] When It All Comes Down To It...

..There are a lot of things that I could discuss and research that relate to environmental science. This science, as I have come to learn over the past semester, is pretty much the study of how the earth works and how us humans influence it through our actions. And it's more than just that. Because we ourselves are a part of nature and the world so this science even studies how humans are affected by the earth. It's a rather all-encompassing subject.
This semester has brought me abundant knowledge and clarity on the world and my part in it. And as my last blog post, I will give into a time of reflection where I examine the biggest environmental issue today. Now for everyone's sake, especially my own, I have narrowed the spectrum down to the biggest environmental issue today within the United States.
Getting straight to the point, I believe one of the biggest issues within the US is over consumption. If there's one thing I have learned from this class is that the US has no concept of moderation (now given, I have learned many more things in this class!). I believe this is an issue due to the US dependency upon non-renewable sources. These sources of energy are ones that cannot be replenished over a short period of time. The US has a huge dependency upon fossil fuels, such as, coal and oil. According to the US Energy Information Administration, in 2011 the US consumed 18.8 million barrels PER DAY of petroleum products. We import and export oil like crazy. The problem is, what will happen once this source is gone? It is not only an economic issue, but while we are burning and consuming so much oil we are putting the environment at stake.
Now, here's the issue. Now what can the US do to solve it? One way is to encourage and fund research for alternative fuels and energy. Another solution is to transform the way we transport ourselves by increasing more efficient transportation. Another way is to fix the soul issue of over consumption and promote moderation (how do you think we should accomplish this?). There may be many solutions, but which ones will actually be effective once implemented into our society? What do you think?
Now things don't change overnight. It's a personal responsibility to start the change and to encourage others to join in. I have contemplated over what I can do. First thing for me is to just be aware of the issues and the solutions. Second is to figure out what I can live without and what can I replace in order to decrease my consumption. Some examples would be to decrease my purchases that come with way too much packaging, buying local, and having a consciousness of how I will reuse and repurpose products.
Those are just some ideas that I will hopefully implement.

Out of this whole semester, I was moved by the documentaries that we watched during class. A movie called Dive! discussed the great issue of food waste and a movie called Bag It discussed how much plastic has increased in every part of life. Both movies really moved me towards a change in my own life. My eyes were opened to a bigger world and how much of a burden I need to take on in every decision I make that will effect the environment.

And there you have it. It's probably my longest post thus far, but it's also my last. It's been a great semester getting to learn about so many things and being able to share them with whoever reads them! if you've been on this journey with me through my semester, I encourage you to comment on this post. Let me know your thoughts and if you took charge of living in an environmentally conscious way!

Tread lightly everyone! and Happy summer!

[HW] THE SKY IS FALLING!

...that may not be politically correct. Aside from chicken little, this phrase reminds me of the state of the environment around us - Will the sky ACTUALLY fall?? - Ok, that may still be dramatic, but there is a constant discussion geared towards the state of our climates around the world and if they are changing. In other words, does global warming exist?

Let's the great debate begin!

To start off, is the climate actually changing or is it just a natural pattern that we have progressively noticed? In the United Nations Climate Change Information Kit, climate change is confirmed by the observation of how the earth deals with greenhouse gases. The earth will adjust to be able to balance the energy. The more greenhouses emitted into the environment, the more the earth will adjust and change to maintain balance, and thus the environment will be affected in, sometimes, drastic ways that we can notice.

It doesn't help that human activity has not helped the situation. In fact, the increase of greenhouse gases can be pin pointed to humans. According to the EPA's Climate Indicator handbook, the US by itself is responsible for a 14 percent increase of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities. This increase was recorded from 1990 to 2008. The major human activity that feeds the issue at hand is the increase of energy use, via electricity. This use of energy releases these emissions that aid towards the climate changes we have today.

Climate change not only is the cause of the irregular weather, but also many other things in our world. According to NAS, or the National Academics of Science Climate Change Information Site, I was able to find a statement geared towards a more rapid response towards climate change. In it, it gave concern towards not only the melting Arctic sea ice, but with that, the rapid sea level increase. Reading further into UNFFCC information kit will reveal that with climate change, the most affected areas will be sensitive areas - or places that are characterized as places that will have difficulty to adapt. Adding onto that aspect, the people in developing countries are affected harshly by climate change, that would greatly damage their economy and society.

Even with these broadly accepted conclusions, there will still be those who argue against climate change and it being an actual issue. The Heartland Institute published an article titled Global Warming: Not a Crisis. Within the article, Heartland expresses its issues, or concerns, involving global warming. Their concern is how much weight of global warming belongs to human activity and how much of it is a natural occurrence. Also they question if global warming itself is an actually "bad" thing or does it come with benefits. I can understand the doubts towards the topic of climate change alot better now that I got a chance to look at this article.

But, for imagination's sake - try to picture the world's state 50 years from now. Imagine its climate if we continued our normal energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Would it still be the same? I doubt that. Because the earth is always working on balancing energy which causes noticable climate changes, the more continuance use and amount of energy for human activity will probably raise greenhouse emissions significantly. Though I think the earth will still be able to keep itself stabalized as a whole, I believe there will be many places, mostly sensitive areas, that will be great affected and maybe even disappear! It is 50 years from now after all! We ought to be proactive in our energy usage and other areas that feed into climate change. What are your thoughts on the world 50 years from now?

[HW] Chemical Usage

Living in a time and age where science and technology advance faster than a turn in monopoly, it is difficult to keep up with how discoveries are affecting the things we use, the places we live in, and our physical selves. We encounter various types of chemicals that we are told aid our standards of living. There are chemicals that aid how we clean, how we deal with food, and in the products we use on a daily basis. With the consumer-driven mindset, we may often be blinded to the concerns of chemical usage. It sometimes is hard for me, personally, to understand that not everything sold in supermarkets, malls and stores are safe for you. There may be harmful levels of chemicals that you may be exposed to that can affect you, possibly in detrimental ways. 

This week's homework assignment was to reflect on an article published by CQ Press titled Regulating Toxic Chemicals: do we know enough about chemical risks? The article presents the argument that we may not be proactive enough in testing the toxicity of chemicals in the products we use everyday. The article then discusses various topics that are of concern, for instance, nanotechnology, green chemistry, environmental impacts and laws and regulations. One topic that the article discusses, and that I have had a growing interest, in was exposure to Bisphenol A, or more commonly known as, BPA.

BPA is a chemical that is used in plastic production. According to FDA.org, BPA is used to produce hard plastics, like reusable water bottles. It is also used in the lining of canned foods. According to the article, the health risks of BPA have been scientifically known since the 1930's when animal testing discovered endocrine disruption. A result of such a disruption, they observed reproductive and developmental issues. As later stated, within the 1990's BPA toxicity is strong enough to affect humans even in low quantities (though the FDA reports differently). 

Regardless of the health hazard, BPA is still in use today, but thankfully the market demand for BPA-free products has risen due to the continued research and wide-spread knowledge of the disadvantages. 

After reading about how the US has dealt with BPA use, so far, I decided to check out how Europe has handled it. Within the article there is a short section explaining how some regulations are more "precautionary," in that, they will prevent products with chemical risks to even market and if there is no substitute for a certain chemical, that chemical use must be justified in some logical way. 

In 2010, The Independent published an article called Government 'must follow Europe's lead and ban BPA'. The article informs of Denmark's decision to ban BPA in young children products (i.e. baby bottles, etc.). Denmark is noted to be the first European nation to take this sort of initiative against the chemical use; regardless of the popular opinion of BPA safety shared by the US FDA as well as the British Government. 

Do you have an opinion on the chemical usage of BPA?