Month: September 2018

by

Courts impact on Environmental laws and regulations

Cavender,Anthony.Pierce,Amy.(July 16,2018.)Administrative and Environmental Law Cases Decided During the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017-2018 Term:Gravel2Gravel real construction & real estate law blogs

Retrieved August 9,2018 from

https://www.gravel2gavel.com/2018/07/administrative-and-environmental-law-cases-decided-during-the-u-s-supreme-courts-2017-2018-term.html

 

Abstract: Cavender’s and Pierce’s writing only mention court cases in the United States the involve environmental laws that occurred in 2018. Majority of these cases were stated versus other states or an association of environmental purposes or non-environmental purposes challenging another association in hopes of having a new regulation or one taken down.

The article made sure to mention all parties involved and many of the big cooperation ended up winning such as the EPA and getting to choose the regulations they so pleased.

 

Although my article is purely just court cases, the outcome of these cases affects what environmental action will or will not be taken. What environmental precautions we take or don’t take in the present can vastly affect the future of our environment. Therefore, whatever the court decides could end up damaging our environment further or improving the quality. In my perspective, the article emphasized the court cases and who won them rather than the impact it would have on the environment. I found this article particularly interesting, however, it didn’t go into enough detail about the impact of the court’s ruling.

by

Water regulation regarding Trump and the EPA

Woods,Mcguire.(2018,January 31.) What to expect in Environmental regulation for 2018:McGuirewoods.com

Retrieved August 9th 2018,from

https://www.mcguirewoods.com/Client-Resources/Alerts/2018/1/What-to-Expect-Environmental-Regulation-2018.aspx

 

Abstract: This article focuses on the new regulation actions on our environment expected to be enforced by law in 2018. It goes in detail about how the Trump administration and the EPA have constructed a plan to give the EPA authority over wetlands and the Trump administration to remove regulations that are perceived to be barriers to certain projects. Mcguire’s article also touched on the clean power plan to which the EPA and Trump administration didn’t exactly see eye to eye. The WOTUS rule as well as the lead in water rule, water fights (Georgia vs. Florida), unregulated pollutants, toxic substance control, chevron doctrine, and several others environmental issues are explained and given a set of new regulation this year that the author describes.

by

Nutrient pollution makes life worse for coral reefs

University of Hawaii at Manoa. (2018, June 6). Nutrient pollution makes ocean acidification worse for coral reefs. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 13, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180606093736.htm

 

Coral reefs are used in the marine ecosystem to provide security, food and shelter for many coastal communities. They grow when corals calcify and expand the reef faster than bioeroding organisms or abiotic factors can destroy it. A recent study done by the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology showed that human-derived CO2 emissions (which cause phenomena like ocean acidification) causes nutrient pollution, which made it harder for the corals to use the dissolved compounds in the water, slowing calcification rate. The nutrients also change the pH in the water, making it harder for the corals and other organisms to breathe. However, the pollution also promotes seaweed growth, which can overtake and replace coral reefs that are already affected by the effects of ocean acidification. It was found that fertilizer that seeps into the ocean also raises nutrient pollution, contributing to the net loss of coral reef growth.

 

This article explains that by causing CO2 emissions and letting fertilizer run off into the oceans, we are accelerating the effects of ocean acidification and making it harder for coral reefs to survive, and that to keep them from getting overrun by seaweed and other less-affected organisms emissions and fertilizer runoff need to be reduced. There’s already a global effort to reduce emissions, and some local organizations are working to reduce nutrient runoff, but more could be done. The great barrier reef is a prime example of what will happen to all the coral reefs in the ocean if we cannot get a handle on the effects of ocean acidification.

by

Ocean Acidification messing with fish noses

Daley, J. (2018, August 08). Ocean Acidification Is Frying Fish’s Sense of Smell. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ocean-acidification-frying-fishs-sense-smell-180969944/

 

The ocean captures about one fourth of all the CO2 released by humans which, while effective at slowing the effects of climate change, has major repercussions for the ocean ecosystems. Over the past 200 years, CO2 emissions caused by humanity has raised ocean acidity by 43%, and estimates say the ocean will be 2.5 times as acidic as it is now in 2100. This raise in acidity, while relatively weak, is strong enough to disrupt the formation of shells in many marine species, and an international research team published a study that analyzed the effects of acidification on fish. It revealed that the fish swam less and were much more likely to suddenly freeze for five or more seconds, which is a sign of fishy anxiety. More importantly, to smell something the fish had to get much closer to the source, which lowered response and detection time of potential threats. The adaptations to this would usually be to develop more smell receptors, but the fish did the opposite.

 

This article explains how as we’ve let out more CO2 emissions, we’ve also raised ocean acidity. This acidity affects the fish in the water in such dramatic ways that many species will be left helpless to predators, unbalancing ecosystems when one part of the food chain is killed off. In the case of kelp forests especially, if all the fish disappeared, then sea urchin growth would go out of hand, and the kelp plants that filter out CO2 twenty times as efficiently per acre than other land-based forests would be eaten out of existence. I think it’s important to at least try to preserve our ocean life, because if one ecosystem falls, then more are sure to follow – including ours, – and since life on land largely depends on life in the ocean for CO2 filtering, food and other resources (and to fend off angry conservationists), It would be in our great interest to lower CO2 emissions.

by

Corals changing DNA to adapt to Ocean Acidification

  1. (n.d.). Coral tricks for adapting to ocean acidification. Retrieved from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/kauo-ctf060818.php

 

A process is changing some corals in the ocean, down to the molecular level. Corals change their genes by adding a methyl group to part of their DNA, changing how the DNA is read without changing the code. A study held by the KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY showed that, when in more acidic seawater for extended periods of time (in the study’s case, two years), the corals had higher levels of DNA methylation. The team also discovered that, with this higher DNA methylation levels, the corals had also increased in size. This was correlated to the “swiss cheese hypothesis,” where bigger holes in the structure are made to reduce the amount of skeleton produced. The result of this experiment led scientists to believe that they can use DNA methylation levels as a marker for coral stress.

 

As a study on the universal attitude of many species of coral, this article shows an advancement in our understanding of marine systems, and how to read the patterns within them. I think it’s a good step in the right direction in developing a proper response to the messages we receive from nature, those being the ones from corals. I think if we find the same levels of DNA methylation in corals in nature, we’ll have even more evidence available to decide on a course of action, and decide whether or not to make significant changes to our state of living or very lifestyle.

by

Calcifying Organisms Changing Size to Adapt to Ocean Acidification

Size is key in predicting how calcifying organisms will respond to ocean acidification. (2018, July 26). Retrieved from https://phys.org/news/2018-07-size-key-calcifying-ocean-acidification.html

 

A study published in Global Change Biology suggests that size is the main factor that will predict how calcifying organisms will respond to ocean acidification. Five species of algae were studied, measuring their habitat distribution, size, surface area and shape. The algae also supports a few species as a sort of nursery, so it’s worth staying posted. Previously it was thought that many environmental factors like evolutionary relatedness, habitat and morphology will play a role as a driver for response, but the study found that they play a far smaller role.

 

That it questions current scientific thought about how we analyze all species, this article related not only to the algae off the coast of california but also the entire world. I think it’s interesting that in this particular year we’re questioning such conventional and physical-based schools of thought, and are ruling them out with molecular and specific studies.

by

Ocean Acidification Having a Greater Impact on Oceans

Hays, B. (2018, July 31). Seagrass can provide localized protection against ocean acidification. Retrieved from https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2018/07/31/Seagrass-can-provide-localized-protection-against-ocean-acidification/6811533063501/

 

Seagrass has the potential to be a buffer against ocean acidification, protecting vulnerable species against the menace of carbonic acid. While also giving food and shelter to many organisms, it also absorbs carbon dioxide as it does photosynthesis. A study at Carnegie designed models to measure whether seagrass meadows’ carbon uptake abilities could lower pH levels. The models included the density of grass, photosynthetic activity, water depth, currents and a few other factors. The results said that seagrass can have a small, local effect on ocean acidity. However, it is limited.

 

The article relates to the species of seagrass off the coast of California, and possibly off the coast of anywhere seagrass grows. I think that it wouldn’t hurt to grow more seagrass for the purpose of filtering carbon dioxide, however I think there are more, larger and more efficient filterers, like kelp forests. Their filtering power accounts for all the filtering power of the existing rainforests, and a little more, so those would be a much more viable option. However, a much simpler one is simply changing our way of life to include more efficient and less smoggy cars.

by

How Plastic Eating Bacteria Actually Work-A Chemist Explains

Plastic is used so often for its durability, but subsequently its durability is causing a huge threat to the environment. Plastic is made of polymer chains that don’t dissolve in water, making them had to decompose. However, scientists have been working on increasing the productivity of a bacteria that can break plastic down and convert it into food. This bacteria is called Ideonella Sakaieis 201-f6 and they can penetrate plastics dense, crystalline structure and split bonds with an enzyme to extract carbon as a fuel source. Scientists and working not to subtly change the enzymes to work more effectively. One concern, however, is that if this bacteria is released into the wild it could quickly get out of hand and make plastics less durable, leading to a whole slew of problems.

 

Plastic pollution is far reaching over the globe, and is one of the biggest environmental hazards due to how slowly plastics decompose. The use of plastic eating bacteria could be a great  way to tackle this problem and seems to have a very promising future. Although this won’t be the only solution to plastic pollution it definitely is a start. It is interesting how quickly bacteria change to respond to the environment, as these bacteria aren’t man made, they developed themselves, but are being modified by scientists. We will have to be extremely careful if we do choose to deploy these bacteria in nature as it is possible that they could quickly get out of hand.  

 

 

by

Gorillas Face a Great Threat

Worland, Justin. “Endangered Species: Gorillas Gorillas Face Greater Threat.” Time, Time, 6 Sept. 2016, time.com/4480968/endangered-species-panda-gorilla-iucn/.

 

This article focuses on the critical endangerment of the eastern mountain gorillas. It describes how 4 out of 5 of the great Ape species are critically endangered. It explores how it is very troubling that all of humankind’s closest cousins are near to falling into oblivion. The article highlights the differences between the gorilla and the panda, as the Panda has had years of hard effort being dedicated to preserving and the gorilla is still in need of much help.

 

This article has an interesting take on environmental science; because the giant panda and the Eastern mountain gorilla do inhabit similar habitats but have not experienced the same societal attention they are in rather different situations. It is interesting to why people have focused so much less on an animal which is much more closely related to us than the Giant Panda. I believe that saving the critically endangered apes should be far more important to us than it has been. They are our closest cousins and aside from their importance to the ecosystem, there should be inherent value on their existence.

by

What Are the Most Endangered Species?

 Reality Check. “What Are the Most Endangered Animals in the World? – BBC News.” BBC, BBC, 21 Mar. 2018, www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43475872.

 

This article explains which of the world’s animals are the most endangered.  It describes animals in different situations all across the globe. From the Vakita, a pygmy porpoise to the Javan rhinoceros. A large part of the article focuses on the definition of an endangered animal and the different levels of endangerment that an animal can be classified under. It is an important article that brings together a large body of information to one place and examines the nature of the endangered animals system.

 

This article is related to environmental science because it describes the situations of several populations of organisms that are critically threatened by human activity. The Vakita is a peculiar situation because it was only discovered 60 years ago and now is on the verge of extinction. It shows how dangerous an indifferent attitude towards the survival of a species can be. If we do not actively exert effort to protect them from ourselves they may die out.