APES Current Events

This article is interesting as it gives great points on why this new discovery of nitrogen is important. It explains how global warming predictions can be greatly improved, as well as advancing the carbon cycle, while not having to rely on the atmosphere which has been found to only carry 75% of the Earth's nitrogen while the Earth's bedrock carries 25%. This advancement of the carbon cycle would also improve emissions as they can be recycled quicker than expected before this discovery was made. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405140946.htm

Our most northern monkeys, nicknamed "Snow Monkeys," have been found to bathe in a hot spring in Japan. Scientists say they use these 'spa days' as therapy to fight the stresses associated with the cold winters. Who doesn't like a hot tub spa day?   Click here for more information.

Prehistoric fossils were found under the ground in New Zealand from minkes and whales that lived 27.5 million years ago. This proves the theory of evolution even farther because these fossils belong to land animals that eventually evolved into the whales that we know of today. These fossils prove that the prehistoric whales had no teeth or brissles. Until now scientists have known very little about these creatures but they can now use this information in other works.

A study of multiple different types of ecosystems in eight different countries has found that the increased amount of carbon dioxide in the environment affects the quality of plants. The higher carbon dioxide levels reduce the amount of nitrogen in plants. Nitrogen accounts for a large part of chlorophyll, which plants use along with sunlight to produce glucose for nutrients. With these reduced amounts of nitrogen, the plants may still grow to average size, but they will not be of good quality or health. This study has proven yet another negative affect of pollution in our atmosphere. The effects that the lower nitrogen levels have on these plants directly affect us as well. Link:  Increased Carbon Dioxide Levels in Air Restrict Plants' Ability to Absorb Nutrients

In Australia, and spreading through the ocean a heat wave is going on. The coral reefs are suffering and they are dying off, we are losing control of the heat. The Barrier reef is one of the worlds largest living structures and we are killing it, if we kill it completely then we can say goodbye to all our oceans creatures that need the reef to survive. Australia also need the reef for economic reasons, like jobs that tour guides take the tourists over the reef and around the ocean. This can hurt us in many ways and we need to find a way to help stop it and slow it down. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/world/australia/australia-barrier-reef.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180418144810.htm I think this article is very interesting and kind of scary. The fact that we know there is another large planet out there that we have not discovered is a scary thought. Who knows what could be living or happening on the planet. It is also weird to think that the meteorite was very close to hitting our earth. Hopefully scientists will be able to find what planet this came from and how it was made.

The circulation in the ocean is getting weaker and weaker as the years go on. Scientists are worried that if this circulation continues to weaken, it'll change the seasons and weather patterns across the world. With weird weather we've had in the last year or two, like multiple catastrophic hurricanes, snowing in April, and harsh snow storms, I wonder if the ocean circulation is already affecting us.

Okay, this is incredible. This man is taking bamboo, an ever-growing resource that is abundant in most areas around the world and turning them into a source of transportation. Not only is he using bamboo, which is so plentiful that none need to be planted to help his business, but he is creating a more efficient way of transportation for everyone. Yes, bikes already exist, however none like this one. A bamboo bike helps get rid of some of the abundant bamboo but instead of using metals and plastics to create a bike frame, the bamboo is used which means less destruction on our environment. Also, the encouragement of using bikes instead of cars, trains, etc. could help us with our current climate issues we are facing. One man's idea is a solution to two large problems in the world. (April Current Event) Article Here !  

Global climate is a LARGE concern in today's environment. However, a solution could have just been discovered. It was recently found that around 1/4 of all nitrogen on Earth comes from earth's bedrock. This means the rock is key to holding more carbon and helping the Earth's natural cycles take place. The way this works is through erosion/weathering, the rock releases nitrogen and the way the weathering occurs determines the amount of viable nitrogen in the rock. This has explained the gap that has occurred in where nitrogen comes from in the world. Before, the missing gap went unexplained until now. I personally think this is an amazing thing that was discovered for a more natural state. However, I believe that this might start getting abused as soon as new research is discovered. As everything in a natural state is diminished, this could possibly be ruined by basic human desire to look for a new way to change the current environment. This also makes me think that if the...

Boracay Island, in the Philippines, is one of the most popular tourist destinations. In fact, in 2017 Boracay had over two million tourist visits. While the island is beautiful and a favorite destination to visit, the Philippine government has recently announced their plans on closing the island in order to clean up and restore the environment. According to the article, “ The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources, The Department of Tourism, and the Department of Interior and Local Government have recommended a six-month closure of the island due to poor solid waste management, solid waste contamination of the beach, and illegal constructions.” Over the past few months, the island has been filled with green algae. Studies conducted there show that the slimy algae relates back to the lack of cleanliness and management of trash at resorts. A specific example of the lack of cleanliness in the resorts is the large amount of human waste found in the water there. While t...

It was found that local warming from climate change can create chemical changes in milkweed plants, which are very important for monarch butterflies.  Monarch butterflies eat milkweed plants and lay their eggs on these plants.  Milkweed plants produce toxic chemicals called cardenolides, which monarchs have evolved to become tolerant to.  By laying their eggs on these plants, they protect their offspring from being eaten.  But if milkweed plants produce too much of these chemicals, due to warmer temperatures, the monarchs will poison themselves when they consume the leaves and poison their larvae. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180403120004.htm

The Mary river turtle was recently added to the endangered list. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's people would go into their nests and then sell them for pets, eventually leading them to become endangered. Humans throughout history haven driven animals to extinction for their own needs, i.e ivory, fur, and pets. Humans should start placing stricter protection on endangered animals to make up for the damage they have done. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/11/green-haired-turtle-that-breathes-through-its-genitals-added-to-endangered-list

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/costas-hummingbirds-singing-tail-feathers?tgt=nr An interesting article describing how the male humming birds twist and flap in specific ways to court females. They also create a very distinct sound that is attractive towards females using both their mouths to attract and the sound made from their wings flapping so fast.

https://www.livescience.com/62268-greenland-dark-zone-gets-darker.html On Greenland's ice sheet there is a dark patch that scientists have concluded to be impurities within the ice like carbon and dark dwelling algae. The ice sheet makes up for 80 percent of Greenland's land mass and holds 8 percent of the world's fresh water. Scientists also predict the sea levels to rise 23 feet if it melts completely which would have a great impact on the environment and humans. The speeding up of the melting of the ice may be due to the darker patches absorbing more of the suns heat rather than the very bright patches. Hopefully, through environmental services the dark patches can somewhat recede.

With the rising temperatures in the climate their is a great risk for monarch butterflies. This species feeds primarily on the milkweed plant but with global warming in full swing it changes the milkweed plant thus making it dangerous for the butterflies to feed off them and to leave their eggs. If we don't change things we may see a great decrease in these beautiful creatures. Article

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180404093953.htm Elderly women are now eating more vegetables daily than usual to protect their artery walls from becoming thick. With a certain amount of cruciferous vegetables per day it lowers the average artery wall thickness from occurring. After the lifestyle changes results continued to show a protective connection between cruciferous vegetables and cartoid artery wall thickness. Due to observational nature this study can not be accepted, but it is still important to increase the amount of cruciferous vegetable intake to avoid vascular disease.

Link Here Climate denialists are trying to tell people that the polar bears are just fine. It is a well known fact that the polar ice caps are warming at an alarming rate, which will eventually take the homes of polar bears away. It seems that there are many things in the media today that are talking about climate change, but there are many articles that dismiss it as something that is not important.

New Study Suggests Tens of Thousands of Black Holes Exist in Milky Way’s Center A study from Columbia University has proven the idea that a long with the few known larger black holes in the Milky Way there are smaller ones surrounding. This discovering will help us learn how the larger and smaller black holes interact and attract each other.  Like the ocean we seem to known a lot of what you would see of the "surface" or the area closer to earth but we know little to nothing about the deep depths of space and this is a good start to finally reaching those depths and learning more about space.

A new study lead by Jenna Jambeck, who is an environmental engineer at the University of Georgia, shows that at least eight million tons of plastic waste is being generated into the ocean every year.  Prior studies conducted in order to measure the amount of plastic garbage specifically concentrated in the "garbage areas" of the world's oceans, or rather the surface regions in which trash concentrations are the highest.  But, this new study took samples of all areas in the world with coastal regions in order to more effectively measure the waste accumulation in relation to a larger testing capacity of the earth's water bodies.  This more comprehenzive studies showed that for every coastal foot of land, there wood be five grocery bags of trash to compliment.  Not only this, but the study showed that the rate of increase pertaining to waste within the ocean is just at detrimental.  Jambeck even noted that by 2025, the ratio of grocery bags to every coastal foot wo...

https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/11/tech/ecosolutions-5-ways-tech/index.html From the above article there are several ideas that have the potential to become a reality. The most surprising one for me is that someone thought that mini drones would/could be a solution to pollination problems. My thoughts on that are they we should really just take better care of bees. While being a good idea, I think that its not practical. Alternative plastics is another one on the list. Being made out of cassava plants, this new plastic is biodegradable, and is just as cheap as current plastics. I would really like to see more of this, since it helps encourage more beneficial ways of industry, and business practices.

     Scientists have developed a sort of "sun screen" that could potentially protect the great barrier reef from continuing to deteriorate. Currently, around two thirds of the reef are "bleached" or completely void of life. the reef has lost The liquid is made of a natural calcium that already exists on the reef itself. In theory, a thin layer of the calcium carbonate could be spread on the surface water above the reef, and act as a barrier from harmful UV rays. Small scale tests have shown positive results, which cold lead to preservation of the great barrier reef in the future.     https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/can-ultra-thin-sunscreen-save-world-s-largest-coral-reef-ncna863001

As of right now, 75% of Earth's land has been polluted, become deserts, or have been deforested for the development of agricultural lands. If the Earth's land is continued to be used in this way, 95% of the land will be degraded by the year 2050. The land degradation will eventually force millions of people to move because the land will no longer be able to produce food. Replanting native species in areas that have been degraded is one way to reverse the trends of degradation. I think it is very important that we help the areas that are degraded the best we can. If we do not help fix the degraded areas we can have serious problems and the land degradation can affect millions of people. National Geographic Article

A recent study has proven a correlation between higher total levels of phthalates and dining out more often. Phthalates are chemicals that are used in food processing and packaging materials. They cause birth defects, infertility, pregnancy complications, other reproductive disorders, and the interruption of hormones in the human body. Those who go out to eat and dine at restaurants and fast food places (especially) had 35% higher phthalate levels compared to those who eat home-cooked meals. Foods from fast food restaurants specifically created a 40% increase in phthalate levels in people. Teens, children, and expecting mothers are most susceptible to the effects of these chemicals. Remember this next time you're deciding whether or not to go out or stay in and cook! Link to Article:  Dining Out Associated with Increased Exposure to Harmful Chemicals

Link Antarctic glacier melting is not just ice melting and breaking off into the ocean, its now been discovered that the ice is receding under the the glacier. If this continues to happen the glacier will collapse, which will contribute to global sea level rise. The Glacier is melting in more ways then I though, as well as many other people, this is very concerning. What will happen if the glacier continues to melt this rapidly?

In northern Serbia, on a property close by to a farmland and a railway line, 100 tons of hazards toxic waste has been stored in the open and within a barn. last month, authorities found this deposit, along with a second one cement into the wall of a nearby factory. Across Serbia, reports of poorly secured waste deposits have the possibility of causing long term public health and environmental problems. http://www.euronews.com/2018/04/05/serbia-faces-up-to-huge-hazardous-waste-problem-to-meet-eu-environment-standards

A large floating patch of garbage located between Hawaii and California is rapidly growing. It is now known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. R esearchers have used single, fine-meshed nets, to try and collect the garbage in attempt to lower the amount of garbage floating about. This method isn't bringing around much change however, because their resources at the moment. Many objects don't get caught in the net due to size and the small surface area the net covers. Laurent Lebreton, lead author of the study, explains that "Although it is not possible to draw any firm conclusions on the persistency of plastic pollution in the GPGP yet, this plastic accumulation rate inside the GPGP, which was greater than in the surrounding waters, indicates that the inflow of plastic into the patch continues to exceed the outflow."  This is a problem because many fish are eating plastic or getting caught in the trash. Its also a problem because it's a huge mass of trash floati...

Due to warmer weather and other climate changes the Milkweed plant into almost poison. Having the Monarch Butterfly's favorite pretty much turn into poison is not good. Why would we want Monarch Butterflies to die off? Ill answer that, we don't want them to die off. Although this doesn't affect the population first hand butterflies are still amazing and we don't want them to die off. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180403120004.htm

http://www.euronews.com/2018/04/05/serbia-faces-up-to-huge-hazardous-waste-problem-to-meet-eu-environment-standards Article's like these bring up debates on just how important waste management is. This ties into our debate on waste management in China and brings awareness of the importance of this in other countries as well.

There is talk from ion the White House to get rid of some acts that protect endangered animals. This would mean that around 300 animals and plant species would no longer be protected. I don't know why anyone would want this to happen, but the general population is voting against it. It is not actually known what the talk is truly about, but if it is what it is assumed, but anyway that goes about it, it's not good. Arcticle

Philippines temporarily closes popular holiday island to tourists due to pollution https://mashable.com/2018/04/05/boracay-philippines-garbage-closure/#_FNC45b9Psqo To see an article like this is unpleasing. The fact that thousands of people will be losing jobs due to pollution is unbelievable. According to the article; " The island is very much dependent on tourism.  Up to 36,000 jobs  ranging from hotel workers to street vendors could be lost in the shutdown, with authorities rejecting pleas by locals to consider a partial closure of the island." The pollution is due to dumped sewage. We need to find another solution rather than aimlessly dumping it and effecting the lives of thousands.

As reported by the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, the eastern Amur Leopard has been found with canine distemper virus.  A 2 year old female leopard in Primoskii Krai. The leopard showed neurological disease, and even with veterinary hand feeding the leopard's condition worsened. There was an outbreak of CDV in 1994 that killed 1,000 lions in Tanzania's, serengeti national park. It is believed that these diseases can be transmitted from dogs, badgers and foxes. With this outbreak, could a DHPP vaccine work for these cats? or would you need a feline version that has a higher strength?  would there be any solution if we don't know where it came from? Could this wipe out species?

In the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Nagano, the Japanese Macaques monkeys (who are the most northern species of monkey) take bathes in the hot springs. Since they started doing this, a designated hot spring has been provided for the monkeys that bathe in the Winter. A team of researchers from Kyoto University studied 12 adult females during the winter and spring months and proved that the monkeys used the hot springs the most during the coldest weeks in winter. Dominant females spent longer periods of time in the springs. They also observed their poop and were able to find that being in the hot springs helped the monkeys release stress. I think this is interesting how the monkeys were able to adapt to the cold climate and figure out that being in the springs will help them and lower their stress levels. Link to article 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180404133543.htm With the modifications that have been done to the Mississippi River over the years has caused flood percentages to go up from 1 percent all the way to 20 percent today. Human modification seems to be the leading cause to the flood's from the Mississippi River according to scientists. During the large floods that are occurring large sediments of rock are being carried into lakes that should not contain the large amounts of sediments. Human modification can cause big impacts on the environment and this is just an example that we should be more careful and think about long term affects when engineering using the environment.

As a famous quote says “Life is like a box of  chocolates . You never know what you're gonna get.” The more chocolate one eats the bigger that ones footprint becomes, but what about chocolates carbon footprint what effects does chocolate have on our environment? Currently chocolate has a big effect in the UK. Much work is put into the making of chocolate, raw materials and water is needed for this process. Due to the complicated process much harm is put on the environment, lack of goods, pollution, etc. So the next time you pick up a chocolate bar forget the delightful taste think about your environment! For more information on the article click  here .

As the "Brexit Act" moves through parliament, many environmental consequences are being uncovered within the exit bill. Parliament states that since the UK is leaving the EU, the regulations and restrictions on air and water pollution, habitats, waste management, species protection, and energy use policies that were developed through EU may no longer apply to England, unless written in by law. Although the laws may still be intact now, unless a UK-EU trade and policy agreement is signed, the environment in the United Kingdom may not be as squeaky clean come the next 10 years. Read more here . 

      Researchers have found that the dropping of 2.7 Fahrenheit a year could cause an ice free summer in the Arctic by the year 2100. Many are in disbelief that these 2 degrees could effect many of animals and destroy the environment. The international Paris Climate Agreement set a global warning and target to restrain from the warming of the Arctic. The Arctic right now is suffering because of the rising global temperatures and in the future we do not know how much these temperatures might rise. The good news is that if we soon lower the temperatures then the sea ice will have enough time to react and freeze again.

In the current environment, many people are chopping down more and more trees to make room for housing or industrial areas. They also chop down trees for uses in the consumer goods industry for paper, furniture, and for homes to made. These methods are bad for the land that the methods are being used on because it then effect the quality of the soil for a while. The soil can take in nutrients from the ashes that are being dispersed from the burning of the trees. This can kill off weeds also that are present and no longer make weeds grow in that certain area of land. I think that this is terrible for the environment because it then effects the areas that had lot of trees and areas that had animals that depended on the trees around then. Animals will soon start to disperse from certain areas and die off because of no resources being available to them and not having somewhere to live at. Deforestation is also claimed to be one of the leading causes to climate change across the globe. De...

A article by science daily  explains how a 2 degree change in the climate in Antarctica would result in at least one free ice chain summer but if there is a a limited warning of 2 degree they would limit the possibility of a ice free summer by 30% 2100. The scientist explain how they never knew how even a .5 degree change can effect so much in the environment. The ice shelves are melting no getting around it but for the possibility that there could be ice free summer is not good since so many organism live on them. This change could change the world forever.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180330105858.htm A study done by the researches at The University of Manchester have been looking at the footprint of chocolate and how it affects the environment. They did this by looking at the impacts of the ingredients, manufacturing processes, packaging and waste. Their study shows that the UK chocolate industry produces about 2.1m tons of greenhouse gases a year! This is equivalent to the annual emission of the whole population of a city as large as Belfast. I thought this was really interesting the read.

Recently, researchers from The University of Manchester studied the carbon footprint of chocolate in the United Kingdom.  The UK is the sixth highest chocolate-consuming country in the world.  Their research looked at the environmental impacts of chocolate's ingredients, manufacturing process, packaging and waste.  According to the researchers' findings, the UK chocolate industry creates about 2.1 tons of greenhouse gases a year.  The study also revealed that it takes about 1000 liters of water to produce just one bar of chocolate.   The two largest environmental impacts of chocolate include its packaging and acquiring its raw ingredients.  For example, most of the ingredients needed to produce chocolate travel to the UK from Africa or South America.  The transportation and production of these ingredients are very energy intensive. The main objective of this study on chocolate's environmental impacts was to raise consumers' awareness in the hopes tha...

Speaker Lana Mazahreh uses her experience from growing up in Jordan to address the current water crisis occurring in Cape Town, South Africa. She suggests that to address the global water crisis, we must follow the patterns and trends that water- scarce countries have already used that have worked. To watch the TedTalk, click  here .

There recently has been scientific debate over what causes the noise when someone cracks their knuckles. A new study suggests that this noise is caused by a partial collapse in the small bubbles of air in joint fluid.  Personally, I find this to be very interesting because I crack my own knuckles. I never really gave it much thought as to why cracking my knuckles can make such a loud noise.   https://www.sciencenews.org/article/why-cracking-your-knuckles-can-be-so-noisy