Bicycle Oriented Development in Portland

http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2011/09/bicycle-oriented-development-portland/

Picture: People gather round a park while their bikes are all locked to the racks.

Summary: Portland is trying to "go green" by creating a bicycle friendly environment and trying to switch people from cars to bikes. So far, about 7% are going to work and other places on bikes, and the national average is usually under 1%! By the year 2030 they want to have at least 25% of their population using bikes instead of cars. Lots of businesses have bike racks and storage and even lend a bike lock to people who forgot theirs. In their plan for the future, Portland wants to create bike boulevards and tracks so the workers and people in general who want to get around are not stuck with the conflict of cars. They also want to increase the amount of parking and storage for the bikes and increase the funding for the bikes.

Opinion: I think that this idea is really cool. If you're not going far to work and it is a nice day, why not ride bikes and save some energy? It's a great concept that maybe will inspire places like New York and large cities to walk and bike more. Plus, it costs less to get a bike then to buy a car and pay for gas.

Questions:

1. Do you think this is a good idea? Why/why not?

2. Would there be a negative factor about this? Explain.

3. Would this help solve our global warming issue? Why/why not?

Why Are the Rainforests Disappearing?

http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2011/09/rainforests-disappearing/

Picture:This graphic is a picture that was taken in a rainforest. These are some areas and habitats that are being destroyed due to certain human activity.

Summary: Rainforests are one of the most important ecosystems on the planet due to the variety of species it holds and the large perentage of the air we breathe. There are plants that produce medicines that are needed to cure certain diseases that lie within these forests. As you may have heard, rainforests are being torn down every seond of the day. This priceless resource that is so important is being torn down and paved over. It says here in the article that 50,000 square miles has been lost due to deforestation from 2000 to 2005. After a large area of rainforest is torn down, that land is only fertile for a certain amount of time. All if this means that farmers are going to move on to another section of the rainforest to clear. After using the land to farm, the soil turns dusty, rough, and unusable. These people are never satisfied and have to keep taring down parts of the rainforest. This technique called 'slash and burn' is what farmers use and is known for destructing half of the total rainforest. Another thing that is tearing down the rainforests is called logging. This is the second biggest reason for the destruction of these forests. There are countless other factors that have put the rainforest in this situation that also include mining and global warming.

Opinion/Reflection: I know that this information is kind of considered old news, but I just cannot believe how much worse this is getting. How come the government or others actually living around the rainforest are not doing anything? I do not think it is right that we just keep going into places like forests or natural areas and destroy nature. Knowing that this priceless natural resource is being destroyed by the people that need it most is astounding. We share the earth with countless other organisms and we do the most damage to everything. If this gets even worse, oxygen levels will be going down to shocking levels and air will be even more polluted than it already is.

Questions:
1) What other things, other than what has already been mentioned, are destroying the rainforests?
2)Who is the main fault for these problems?
3)Are there any things that the government or anyone else can do to slow down or stop the disappearing of the rainforests?
4) What problems would we have if there were little to no rainforests?

Flawed Hunting Ban Put Birds at Risk in Lebanon

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/flawed-hunting-ban-puts-birds-at-riski-in-lebanon.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29&utm_content=Google+Reader




Picture: This picture shoes the storks that are being killed in Lebanon and it's causing an outrage.

Summary: Lebanon provides habitat for some 400 species of birds. At least 15 are threatened with extinction and many more are decreasing because of a hunting ban that is so poorly enforced even environmentalists are working to overturn it. Throughout the year, hunters drive through mountains killing whatever they see. Over-hunting is killing the bird populations in Lebanon. Even gun sellers are all in favor of a law to regulate hunting. Many experts believe the ban has distorted the tradition and led to out of control hunting, like this past spring when a man killed dozens of migratory storks in Lebanon and posted pictures of himself with his dead prey on Facebook. Some poeple think the government should allow controlled hunting seasons.

Opinion/ Reflection: This is just terrible. I can't believe the government isn't enforcing the hunting ban or making any new ones. They are just letting the hunters get away with killing these birds. Killing these birds can be destroying a food web and no one even realizes it. The gun sellers should not want to regulate hunting. They just want to make more money. They don't understand killing these animals and birds are ruining ecsystems. The government really needs to do something about this.

Questions:
1. What are some ways that this hunting can get under control?

2. Whose fault is it that this is happening?

3. What should the government do about this?

Top Predators Disappeearing in Food Chains?

When Large Animals Disappear, Ecosystems are Hit Hard

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/07/18/when-large-animals-disappear-ecosystems-are-hit-hard/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+80beats+%2880beats%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Picture: This picture shows a wolf (a top predator and an animal at the top of most food chain) eating an animal, possibly a deer, elk, moose, or something else. Without the wolves and other top predators to hunt for their prey, the population of them will grow, causing havoc in the rest of the food chain.

Summary: The loss of top predators is causing an unstable balance in the food chain. These predators aren't being killed by their prey, but by hunting and loss of habitat. This is starting to happen in all food chains, from land to ocean. With the top predator of a food chain missing, the rest of the population starts to rapidly grow. This population then needs to eat, but they are eating too much because there are so many of them, which kills off the smaller things, as well as producers. Without food, these animals that are usually eaten by the top predator will starve, which can lead to the end of a whole entire food chain.  In example, when wolves were removed from Yellowstone National Park, the population of the elk and deer (the wolves' prey) skyrocketed. These herbivores ate a ridiculous amount of willow and other tree saplings, destroying the habitats for some animals and even changing stream paths. The wolves had to be reintroduced to Yellowstone to keep the rest of the park wildlife at balance.

Opinion/Reflection: When I first saw this title, I thought that it was good if the top predators of a food chain started to die out, because the other animals would be okay. As it turns out, top predators help keep a whole food chain in balance and keep populations at a reasonable size. Without these predators, whole ecosystems could collapse and everything could end up becoming a disaster. Everything thinks that it's bad when animals kill other animals for food, but it keeps everything under control and without it, technically none of the animals would really be able to survive.

Questions:

1: What do you think are some good ways to help keep top predators alive, but not have too many at the same time?

2: What ecosystem do you think is mostly affected by the top predators disappearing and why?

3: You can't really stop hunters from hunting, but there obviously has to be control over hunting limits. What do you think they could do with the hunters?

4: What do you think destroying animal habitats (knocking down forests, oil spills, etc.) has to do with keeping animal populations under control? How could this be prevented, but still allow humans to live or use that land?

Invasive Tree-Killing Insects Cost U.S. Over $3.5 Billion a Year http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/invasive-tree-killing-insects-cost-us-3-5-bil

Summary:

There has been a rise in invasive bugs all over the world that kills trees. The world has been shipping lumber all over the world. So, these bugs have been in the wood that is being shipped and is showing up in places that are not used to that kind of bug. These bugs have been feasting on wood. People say they and be disruptive, irritating, and really really expensive to clean up. In the biology journal PLoS One, they reveals that the invasive tree-killing insects are costing the US about one billion dollars a year. These insects cause the government to track them down and kill them. Since our trees have don't have any sort of protection, these insects will feast on a whole forest. Because of this many forests are close to gone and property value has gone down.

Opinion/Reflection:

I have known about this because my family goes camping a lot and the ask you not to bring any wood from other states because of the invasive insects. I believe that this is a huge deal and the government should do any means possible to end these insects. I also think that when companies export wood, they should check for these bugs so they do not go to other states or countries and cause big problems.

Questions:

1- Whos fault is it that these bugs are spreading?

2- What is the world going to be like with no forests? (If the bugs are not stopped)

3- How do the insects know to "catch a ride" and go to other types of wood?