A little APES-inspired poem

APES: AP Environmental Science. The headache of every junior (and the occasional senior). Despite the endless projects, the pages upon pages of data and dates and laws, the lists of geological and ecological terminology, the people and places... APES is truly a valuable class. We don't quite appreciate the relevance and urgency of such studies; we live in a changing world, we need to learn as much as we can about it NOW before everything as we know it disappears. A recurring theme in APES seems to be the fragility of the planet and the most unfortunate occurrence in its history; the appearance of Man. Hence this little poem I wrote... It's APES in a poetic nutshell.

First, there was nothing

And then there was life

Life in her seas, the land and air

Breathing, changing, singing,

Then came He who Spoke

With flames in His hands and purpose in His eyes

His steps were heavy and the earth trembled

As it met its Master

Now He cannot hear her speak

His head is full of air

And his eyes clouded with the dust

Of trees forgotten

Her hands tied with cords

Artificial lights rival her stars

Weaving a gray canvas,

The dark milieu of His half life

Fades to black

Now He is need of help

He has lost sight of His purpose

To live as the grass that never forgets to grow

Let your inner spirit nurture Him

Keep your mind as open as the sky

Step even, step light

Help Him wake up inside

From His half life

Should We Worry For the Future?

Today, I had to take a general paper for AICE Exams (a different version of AP/IB exams) and one of the questions I had to write an essay about was "To what extent should today's generation worry about global warming and climate change?"

And I know most teens (heck, many adults as well) will roll their eyes at this, scoff, call me a hippie, show me that there's evidence that all of these extreme consequences won't happen for a while, etc.

But the truth is I really am worried about the future of this planet, and so should everyone who inhabits this Earth.

We are already seeing the effects of global warming, climate change, etc. on this planet and we have been for several decades. We've been taught about carbon emissions, about greenhouse gases, about the hole in the ozone layer that's just getting bigger and bigger--and as a direct result of human pollution.

We've seen the long list of species on this planet today that are on the endangered list, very quickly making it to the extinct list. Wild tigers could be gone in 12 years. Polar bears are slowly dying off as their habitat is melting away and they find it harder and harder everyday to survive. Species in rainforests, such as lemurs, are finding it harder and harder to find a place to live because of deforestation.

These occurrences aren't an entirely new concept. But it makes me wonder why no one ever does anything significant to stop it? Just the other day, President Obama delayed smog protections until 2013 ("President Barack Obama has announced that he has requested that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw the draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards that would have protected Americans from air pollution.").

My question is: why does everyone pass on the responsibility of taking steps to stop the planet from sinking into further deterioration? Why does everyone ignore it, put it at the back of their heads? This isn't an issue that can just be ignored, because sooner or later, it will come back and bite us in the butt.

Or, more literally, show up in the consequences of the future in the lack of resources (clean water, clean air, clean land, fuel to run our lives). We depend on this earth to live, and it's our responsibility to try and treat it in the best way possible.

Green Teen

Cars Could Run on Recycled Newspapers

Newspapers can be just as eco-friendly as the Internet. How?

A recent study, published by Tulsa University scientists, shows that car could run on recycled newspapers!

The scientists at Tulsa University have discovered a bacterial strain, called TU-103 that can convert cellulose in papers to butanol--a biofuel that can replace gasoline.

This is a major discovery because previously, other strains of bacteria have always been killed off by oxygen, but TU-103 stands up to oxygen and still produces butanol.

Butanol is much more safe, less erosive than ethanol and can be adapted to much more easily.

Replacing the use of gasoline by butanol will prove to reduce carbon dioxie an smog emissions, compared to gas, as well as having a positive impact on landfill waste.

For more information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110825105024.htm

Eco-tip of the (bi) week: RECYCLE! Almost everything can be recycled, you'd be surprised. Keep a separate trash bag for plastic cans, aluminum, paper, styrofoam, paper. The tabs on soda cans? Those are actually recycled to produce medical equipment (Google Ronald McDonald can tops or soda tops). So many things spend ages in the landfills, never decomposing, bringing harm and clogging up our already polluted world. Did you know? These are everyday items that are thrown away, showing how fast they decompose from least amount of time to the most:

• Paper Towels
• Newspapers
• Milk Cartons
• Plastic Bags
• Styrofoam
• Aluminum Cups
• Six-pack rings (like those on sodas and beers)
• Water bottle
• Fishing Lines
• Glass

Green Teen

Coral Reefs in Miami will be Destroyed

One of the biggest worries that environmentalists in Miami face right now is the planned port expansion that Miami will execute that is expected to destroy coral reefs across the bay.

Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals that provide home to 25% of all marine species in the world, though they only take up one-tenth percent of the ocean floor. They are important to the delicate marine ecosystem and are fragile themselves, being sensitive to temperature, and over the past 25 years, global warming, storms, last year's cold blast, diseases and human waste have caused their populations to decline sharply.

Planned dredging will blast the Miami port to make room for superfreighters, causing damage and loss of many different coral reefs, especially one known as the elkhorn, which is on the endangered species list.

Environmentalists are trying to fight this, but it is a losing battle. According to director for water resource management at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, they are causing the minimum amount of damage necessary in order to complete the process.

In order to make up for the damage they are causing, the company conducting the project (the Army Corps of Engineers) are to transplant much of the coarl to a trough between two reefs--stony coral larger than inches will be chiseled out and moved to the trough, while soft coral larger than 10 inches will be transplanted as well.

Even with all this, nearly eight acres of sea grass will be damaged, which is why the corps is required to seed 25 acres in a large underwater hole designed for this, a little farther up north.

Many concerns were voiced whether or not the damage caused to the corals will even be worth it, as there is a chance the project will not bring the "economic windfall" that is expected.

Green Teen

So, recently, I've been getting really into being eco-friendly and I learned there are so many things in the world of going green that people are unaware of.

For example, for my fashionistas out there, there was a show during Miami Swim Week called "Haute Natured" that had an eco-friendly bikini--and it was cute! The bikini was biodegradable--it could either be worn again, or thrown away; where it would, in time, disintegrate. Another bikini was shown in another fashion show that was solar powered and could charge small electronic devices.

For the guys, scientists are currently working on making cars run on recycled paper.

A project last year, called Desertec, planned on installing a bunch of solar panels in the Sahara desert to supply energy to parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

The president of Virgin Mobile, Richard Branson, planned to give an island to lemurs to save them from dying out in Madagascar, their one and only habitat that is being destroyed because of deforestation and loss of habitat.

There are so many things happening in the world to make it more eco-friendly that sometimes it seems confusing as to what a regular teen can do to help. But, I decided, that along with a blog about eco-news, I'm going to help you guys by giving tiny eco-tips; things we can all do to conserve some energy.

Eco-tip #1: Turn off and unplug all electronics when not in use. Simple enough, but saves a load of energy. Even chargers, or lamps. Unplug them when you're not using them.