FMHS APES First Spring 2019

          According to NASA, water scarcity will be the most significant environmental issue of the century. Water scarcity is a phenomenon in which the total demand for water exceeds the supply of water, and it has been exacerbated by issues such as overpopulation, global warming, and poor regulation by governments. It detrimentally affects humans and our environment.           As Americans, we take for granted our accessibility to clean, safe water; this is not a reality in underdeveloped and developing nations. Almost a fifth of the world's population lives in areas of dire water scarcity, and another fifth lives under areas of shortages. Sub-Saharan Africa and pockets of Asia suffer the most. If the current conditions of global warming continue, hundreds of millions of people could potentially be displaced.           Water scarcity is equally or more detrimental to the environment than it is to...

Homes to more than 4,000 species of fish, 700 species of coral, and thousands of other animal and plant species, coral reefs play significant roles in the life cycles of at least a quarter of the world’s marine life. Coral reefs can be found in warm, clear, and shallow waters in oceans all around the world, and they are commonly known for their vibrant coloration and capacity to support diverse ecosystems. Corals have a mutualistic relationship with zooxanthellae, which are microscopic algae that live in their tissues. The coral provides for a protected environment for the algae to photosynthesize in, and the algae provides the coral with essential nutrients and gives the coral its bright color. However, if the relationship between the two species becomes stressed due to external factors-increased ocean temperatures or pollution- the algae is expelled from the coral’s tissue. The coral loses its primary source of nutrients, becomes more vulnerable to disease, and turns white as ...

Megha Kolli- Acid Rain Full of nitric and sulfuric acids, the term “acid rain” was coined in 1872 by English scientist Robert Angus Smith. Before then, it was a natural phenomenon that was caused by volcanic eruptions, decaying vegetation and lightning strikes. Over the last 100 years, this has become an increasingly human-caused threat. With the industrial revolution, the popularity of energy from fossil fuel combustion increased. The greatest of these is the burning of coal by power plants, factories and cars. When the fuels are burned, the oxides react to the naturally occurring atmospheric components and create acid rain. Another major contributor to this phenomenon is that of industrial agriculture. The ammonia-based fertilizers that are required contain high amounts of volatile nitrogen compounds. Because of their presence in the very top layer of soil, they are easily vaporized and diffused into the atmosphere. Now, many will ask why this is an issue if acid rain ...

     The possiblility of life on Mars was a topic that was always thrown around, including the possible move from earth to mars. What if we were to live on Mars? Well, to begin, NASA has announced that they plan to have humans on mars by 2030. However the journey there alone would be something of a great obstacle to overcome. Astronauts take about two years to become a full qualitified astronauts in space, preparing their bodies and minds as to what could happen when they get far from earth. On top of that, the tempatures on Mars ranges from about -195F at the poles during the winder to 68F in at the equator in the summer. The tilt of Mars would provide similar seasons as to the earth, however only the northern hemisphere would be of comfortable ranges. The Southern Hemisphere would have far colder and far warmer summers than the north. But none of this compares to the gravitational difference between earth and mars. There would be no technology that could make up for the...

Plastic straws come in various shapes, sizes, colors and designs and can be cool to use with your favorite cup and type of drink, however they’re definitely not cool for the environment. According to the National Park Service, it’s been estimated that we use approximately 500 million of these one time use straws every single day. It is no wonder that out of the 8 million tons of plastic that makes its way into our world’s oceans each year, plastic straws are one of the top contributors.     Most of the straws that we “throw away” don’t actually make it through the mechanical recycling sorter due to their slender shape and light weight. Sometimes these straws that don’t make it end up coming into contact with other materials which could then could lead to contaminating recycling loads or end up with other garbage. Moreover, these straws end up in our oceans often times because of littering, being left behind on beaches or other public facilities, or blown out of fille...

              As Americans, we dispose of 254 million tons of trash per year (equivalent to more than 1 million whales). To accommodate this large disposal of trash in the US, there are more than 2,000 landfills in the US that are at their full capacity. But what about all the trash floating around earth’s orbit? Over the years as we launch more and more objects into space, there has been a build-up of “space junk” that is in our earth’s orbit. Space Junk refers to small pieces of orbital debris such as abandoned spacecrafts and satellites, rocket launch fuel, and small flecks of paint from launched items that damage other objects that orbit the earth. As the world keeps launching more objects in space every year, we are not “cleaning up” the trash left behind in the earth’s orbit leading to 95% of all objects in orbit to be dead satellites or pieces of inactive material. Currently, there are more than 20,000 pieces of debris larger than ...

Ocean Garbage Patches Zara Kanwal 2/5/19 Hidden in the depths of the seas is an immense amount of pollution largely caused by humans. Garbage patches, which are formed by gyres, are large areas of the ocean where litter, fishing gear, and other debris collects. While the five main gyres help to circulate ocean water around the globe, they also draw in the pollution released by humans in coastal areas, known as marine debris. It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tons of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. The rotating ocean currents from the gyres pull the debris into one location, usually the gyre’s center, and form patches of waste. Once plastics enter the gyre, they are unlikely to leave until they degrade into smaller microplastics as a result of the sun, waves, and marine life. The most famous example of this phenomenon is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located in the North Pacific Gyre. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is estimated to cover a...

Mahek Kakkar 2/1/19 Beavers- A Key to our Survival  Aside from making cozy homes for their families and being a cute sight to see, beavers play an important role in our environment. From building dams to purifying the water, Beavers are a keystone species, which means that they are crucial to the environment and greatly affect other wildlife that lives around them. Beavers affect the environment in many important and different ways. First, beavers create dams and wetlands upon which many species, like other animals and us, may depend on. In fact, almost half of all endangered and threatened species in North America rely on wetlands to survive. Along with this, 85% of all North American wild animal species also depend on wetlands. These dams have many beneficial effects on the environment. For instance, dams change the direction of groundwater movement. Usually, groundwater flows down the center of a valley but water in a dam goes into river banks and underground ...