Food is something humans cannot survive without. In the world today as technology has been advancing, the production of food has been greatly impacted in many ways, from pesticides and specific agricultural practices to GMOs. The introduction of pesticides allowed farmers to increase yield and profit at first, however as time moved on pesticides raised health concerns. Some pesticides were proven to harmful to humans. GMOs have a very similar impact, helping farmers increase profit and yield. Scientists have figured out how to select certain genes to be placed inside a crop to make the plant better, for example some plants produce their own pesticides, others have genes that keep the fruits from getting soft and much more. GMOs are widely used in countries all over the world as they have been proven beneficial especially, in poorer countries. Skepticism of GMOs has been on the rise. People are afraid of these new genetically modified foods that they were eating each day, mainly because no one knew what the possible long term effects of consuming GMOs were. Personally I am not incredible concerned about how GMOs reduce biodiversity and promote monocultures because these disadvantages are minor in comparison to the advantages. However some people still believe that GMOs are too dangerous for consumption but there isn't studies that show that the long term effects of GMOs are dangerous. I researched herbicides and pesticides which have played a big role in the Green Revolution and are still used today. Herbicides and pesticides reduce pests and weeds which allows plants to grow better and have better yield. Rodents and insects won't be eating the crops because pesticides will kill them and weeds won't steal nutrients from the other crops because herbicides will kill them. Overall, the invention of pesticides were beneficial in the beginning until people became concerned with their health when certain pesticides were linked to cancer and other diseases. Moving towards sustainable farming methods is ideal but not realistic, in the current state of our nation, where profit is a larger priority than sustainability. In the future if things change when people start realizing that sustainable farming is needed and it starts to get implemented. This was shown in the documentary the Botany of Desire, money is what drives most farms to use GMOs and pesticides. On the contrary, organic farmers are not going out of business, because people often associate GMOs with the possible harmful effects. Learning about GMOs and the harmful effects of pesticides have encouraged me to eat more organic foods. Even though I support the use of GMOs, learning more about them and hearing the opinions of those who are against GMOs have changed the way I think about GMOs. I also enjoy going to the farmers market more often because I would be supporting local organic farmers. Seeing all of the fresh organic produce reminds me of everything I learned about GMOs, pesticides and sustainable farming this semester. Crop rotation is used to replenish soil of certain nutrients and prevents the same crop from depleting the soil of essential nutrients. Soil without sufficient nutrients stunts plant growth and decreases the yield. Work Cited: “Crop Rotation.” North Carolina State University, www.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/crop-rotation.jpg.
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Over winter break, I went to China to visit my extended family as well to do some sightseeing and tourism. I had a fun time visiting the beautiful parks and mountains, they were really beautiful. I traveled to several places in China. Nanning is where my dad grew up and I met my second cousins there. I went to Lijiang which is more of a tourist site or area, it's one of the few places in China where you can see the blue sky. It shows the amount of damage that pollution has caused in the environment. I stayed in a hotel near a village area that had small shops. I learned a lot about the culture and lifestyle of the people who live there. The food was decent there, I liked the food in Nanning better, but Nanning is a big city. Another thing I noticed was that smoking was extremely popular there, I could smell smoke constantly, which I was not used to because almost nobody smokes where we live. Overall I had a fun time during my trip. My goal for this year is to work harder and put more effort into everything I do, not just school work. I feel like I always barely get away with my good grades that could be even better and less stressful if I made a goal to complete something and follow through with it. A simple step would be setting realistic checkpoints that I could achieve. A goal for the environment is to see a reduction in the amount of pollution of any kind. Recycling, composting and conserving resources are all ways to reduce the amount of pollution in the environment. I look forward to the new year and getting to start fresh. I can't wait until my first intersession as well as other new experiences this year. Water pollution is has become an increasingly large issue. But we can still help with the issue by fighting local battles or simply by being more aware of the issue with water rights in our community. In class we watched the documentary Blue Gold: Water Wars, which is a documentary that addresses the issue concerning the privatization of water. The Blue Gold website provides links and ways that we can use to take action. Some of those actions are discovering where the water in our city comes from, finding out if that water is private or government owned. The website provides a vast amount of resources that can help anyone address the issue of water rights in their city.
The main idea the documentary gets across is that water should not be a privilege and that it is a human right to have access to clean drinking water. Oceans provide so much for people and the economy. They are a source of food, drinking water, and a huge portion of Earth's biodiversity and life. One group or company should not be allowed to have complete control over a source of water, and to make money. The best solution to the issue is to have a joint agreement where water is owned partially by a government and by a private company so that the control over the water is isn't completely taken over by one side. Both balance each other out. Prior to watching Blue Gold: Water Wars, I had little idea about the tremendous affect the privatization of water had on people. I never heard about people in South America dying and killing themselves in riots with the privatization of water being at the bottom of the issue. I do see how it can pose a serious threat to poorer communities, especially after watching this documentary. I learned so much more about the threats and effects of the privatization of water on the people. I learned about the importance of where the water from our faucet comes from or the bottled water we drink. From now on, I understand the importance of where our everyday water comes from and the importance of stopping the privatization of water. Over the past 9 years, the world has changed a tremendous amount, technology has been advancing in miraculous ways, We are starting to see more solutions to water scarcity. Agricultural practices have been modified to reduce water usage, sewage systems are being improved and overall, more people are understanding and becoming aware of the issue. Educating people about water issues increases the number of people who are able to help. It was a really fun and amazing experience to be able to see the inner working of the human body. There were different organs, skeletons, and full human bodies in different showcases. In one showcase, there was an entire digestive system laid out inside it. The intestines were unravelled and they were extremely long. That explains why it takes around 10 hours for food to process through the digestive system. When I was reading the museum label, I learned that the giant bulge in the large intestine is where most of the waste is stored before it is time to go to the bathroom. Another thing I learned from the trip was about Alzheimer's disease. The museum label said that as the disease progresses clumps for harden proteins called plaques develop in the brain which causes cells to die. The brain shrinks and the grooves widen as a result of this. There was also a preserved brain that had the disease that was placed right next to a healthy brain and the difference was astonishing. The muscle and skeletal systems were represented too. Complex muscle structures were shown as well as bones. It was really interesting to see the intricate structure of both of those systems. Another system that was explored was the reproductive system. The rectum is labeled in the back so it was really amazing to see the different systems in relation to each other. Personally I loved the exhibit! It was really interesting and a great learning experience. It offered something more interactive than the simple classroom learning experience. Being able to see the 3D, real life version of all those images and diagrams that are shown to us students of the human body is much more intriguing. I think it could help students better understand human anatomy better than just studying a image, especially for visual learners. I would definitely recommend this exhibit to others especially to those who are interesting in these kind of things. However, I don't think this exhibit would be appropriate to all visitors. Those who are not comfortable with at the site of human bodies .or deceased people should not visit the exhibit.
Climate change can relate to the human body. It changes weather patterns, causing more wildfires and storms, which destroys shelter and harms people. The change in temperature also causes harm to ecosystems. These simple changes can limit the amount of plants or animals and disrupt the food chain. In third world countries, the condition will be worse, if plants and animals start dying off, food could become more scarce, causing more people to go hungry.
Over the past month of October the entire class participated in Project Green Challenge. The purpose of the challenge was to educate students and teachers about various environmental topics while at the same time allowing them to engage and think about how they play a role in the environment. The goal was to cause a ripple effect, so that those students and teachers would continue to educate others about the environment.
My favorite challenge was challenge day 10, Water. For that challenge there was a water footprint calculator where I had to calculate how much water was being consumer in my household alone. After the first few questions I thought I was doing okay in terms of saving water, but however when I put in how my entire family are meat eaters the calculation went up so much. It made sense to me why meat takes a lot of water to produce, but seeing the numbers right in front of my face really made it more shocking to see how high the number rose to. I even tested out how much water vegetarians consumed. It was still very high but still it was less. At the end of this challenge it required us to pose something on social media with the link of the water calculator and to tag three friends. I did this on twitter, and I thought that this was cool because that last part helps achieve part of PGC's goal, to help educate and share our experiences with others.
Reflection: I thought the challenge was really cool because it educated people about different environmental issues that we might or might not have known about. Everyday was a new different challenge based on the environment which was really fun. For the most part the challenge wasn't super time consuming for the easiest level which in my opinion is really good so we can still learn and help the Earth without having to put a lot of time aside to do the challenge. So overall I liked it and I wouldn't mind doing it next year!
NOAA has a Marine Debris program is a program that brings people and organizations together to help track the amount of trash that is showing up inside of water. The volunteers go to beaches and complete surveys that tracks each different piece of plastic and trash that they find. By doing this it helps the Marine Debris program reach its goal, which is to understand how big the issue is, how it is changing over time, and what types of trash are the most common. The Environmental Science class went on a field trip with to Ocean Beach to help complete a survey that would help contribute to the Marine Debris Program. Around every week or two a group of students or volunteers go to the same beach and collect data. When we got there the plot of sand was split into four, so the class was split into four groups. the boundaries were marked by the small red flags and trash past the flags we could not record in the survey. In my plot I found different types of plastics and trash. I remember finding a segment of rubber, a snickers candy wrapper, a plastic wrapper, some plastic wrap and other pieces of plastics. I remember that a fishing line was found on our plot too. One of the most peculiar things that we found was a mason jar filled with a liquid that had a photo in it. Even though the mason jar was found in a different plot but we still examined it. The liquid in the mason jar smelled like cinnamon and there appear to be sand mixed into it too. Maggie also saw a paper inside, which she pulled out, and that turned out to be a photo of some guy and it seemed to have his name written on the back. The information that we collected will be used to help achieve the goal of the Marine debris project which is to understand the issue and how the levels of trash in ocean are fluctuating. Reflection:
I really think the experience strengthened what I knew about trash in the Pacific Ocean. I understood that there was a lot of trash in the ocean but after seeing how much trash the entire class collected, I was very surprised. What was even crazier was that surveys are done around every week or so, which means all the trash that we found on the beach was accumulated in only a week. That means if no volunteers did beach cleanups the place would be a literal trash pile. It also made me think about how I don't give a second thought on where my trash might end up. Sometimes we may be contributing without even noticing that we may be littering. For example, say you are eating lunch and the wind blows away a plastic bag or a straw, but then you do not bother to pick it up or you may not even notice. The great takeaway from this is to be conscientious about plastic waste and how these small factors multiply into creating global issues. The Laudato Si is a encyclical written by Pope Francis. It addresses many of the environmental issues that occur on our planet. The reason why it is so special and significant is because it is an official church document that addresses issues that not all people realize or accept. Since it is a church document, Christians and Catholics also accept the idea that our planet is suffering. The Laudato Si helped bring these issues to a larger audience due to the fact that the Church has so much power. From my research on the encyclical, I know it is a letter written by the pope to a certain audience of bishops. It is also addressed to all faithful people to the Church, and it is intended to guide people. My greatest take away is that encyclicals are letter to the people and they are meant to guide and shed light on certain ideas that should be addressed, especially in the case of Laudato Si. The main reason that pope Francis wrote this encyclical for is to bring awareness to the environmental crisis. We all live on the same planet, share the same resources. If we take to much for ourselves there will be little left for others. If we only take and don't give back all of humanity could be doomed. The point is to remind people that we must help keep our planet safe or humanity would suffer. In the end, I will do my best to contribute in as many ways as I can. Small changes still matter. I recently joined the NDB Green club to see what else I could do to help, because I believe every small thing that is done has affects in the long run. If each and every person would agree to do something as little as taking shorter showers or turning off the lights, we could be saving so much more. |
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February 2018
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