Hundreds of species of marine mammals, fish, birds, and sea turtles can be constantly eating, but slowly starving to death when they mistake plastic debris for food, which can occur everyday. Scientists have estimated that there are over five trillion pieces of plastic weighing more than a quarter of a million tons floating at sea globally. Most of this waste ends up in the ocean due to poor waste management. Plastic does not biodegrade, but at sea large pieces of plastic break down into increasingly smaller fragments that are easy for animals to consume. Scientists are not sure why birds eat plastic but some believe it is because the marine plastic debris produces an odor that the birds associate with food. If animals are purpusly eating the plastic because they think that it is food due to its order then people need to take even more urgent steps to try cleaning out plastic from the oceans or at least trying to stop the flow of plastic into the river. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/plastic-garbage-chemical-attracts-hungry-seabirds/
0 Comments
Sea levels are rising faster than they have at any time throughout human history due to the ever increasing temperature of the Earth, they will rise even faster if the Earth warms beyond two degrees Celsius. If glaciers continue to melt at the fast rates then the rising sea levels would hurt many areas especially the Atlantic Coast of North America. The rising sea levels would not be the same in all parts of the world, but the East Coast of North America would see a rise of more than three feet in sea levels by the end of the century if the Earth warms by four or five degrees. With the fast rising sea levels many coastal communities will not have time to adapt. The Paris Agreement was signed by many nations and aims to limit Earths temperture from rising a maximum of two degrees. If Earths temperture can be stopped from rising any higher than the set amount then the polar ice caps wont melt as quickly as they are right now and sea levels will hopefully remain steady. By keeping sea levels at bay houses and other buildings near coast will not be at risk of being flooded and destroyed. The rising sea levels affect construction near the ocean, and the animals lving in and around the ocean, so we need to find ways to stop contributing to the rising temperture that is leading to melting ice and rising sea levels. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sea-levels-will-rise-faster-than-ever/ Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world, with over a million having been illegally trade since 2000. Pangolins are traded for their meat, which is considered a delicacy in some countries of Asia, and for their scales, which are often used in traditional Chinese medicine. Due to the illegal trafficking, pangolins are threatened with extinction in Asia and Africa. The pangolins risk of extinction caused representatives from over one hundred countries to agree to ban worldwide trade of pangolins. This was decide on at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The agreement was made in hopes that it would decrease the amount of pangolins being trafficked and increase the population. Agreements like this are important to the world because they protect species of animals that might go extinct because of humans. All species have a right to live and they should not die out because of humans selfish wants. We need to protect all the species, especially the ones that humans caused to become endangered. www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/science/endangered-pangolins-trade-ban.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fearth |
Gisselle PazArchives
December 2016
Categories |