scrAPES 12 - "A California crab ban reveals trouble in the Pacific Ocean "

A California crab ban reveals trouble in the Pacific Ocean by  Azure Gilman, is about  what fishermen have found in crabs . High levels of  domoic acid have been found in the dungeness crabs along the California coastline. The domoic acid is a neurotoxin harmful to humans and other animals.  These toxins are made by algae  which thrive in warmer temperatures. Because of the acid being found in the crabs it was the first time in California in history for California Fish and Game commissions to be delayed during that week.  They also suspended the harvest of rock crab which can usually be harvested year round.  By stopping the harvest of the Dungeness crab and the rock crab, it put a major financial setback for the fishermen who make there living by harvesting  crab.  They usually can bring up $60 million a year of just harvest.  Not only is it crabs being banned but other animals are being banned due to the high rates of domoic acid. 

The reason why I chose this article is because  of the title. The title intrigued me to choosing this article because I personally do not like crabs but my whole family does. I was predicting something bad going on inside the crabs, which I was right. This is very interesting to me because of my interest toward animals and how they work. I think it is very cool that there is a toxin that is being made by algae and how that toxin travels so fast to other animals, including us. 

This article relates to environmental science because  of the damage it is doing to the marine ecosystem. This toxin have caused many fish to die and also the spread of the toxin is rapidly growing.  With this toxin it can greatly affect the marine life by killing these animals. Also, we can use this to our advantage. All toxins have a cure, we just need to figure out how to cure it. So by understanding what this toxin is inside and out we can figure out how to cure this toxin.

scrAPES #17 - " Rare turtle, thought extinct, reintroduces into wild"

The article, "Rare turtle, thought extinct, reintroduces into wild" by Michael Casey, is about a rare turtle that was thought to be extinct appeared. About 60 Myanmar roofed turtles were released in the wild. This is a very important moment for a program that lasted seven years to revive the turtles. Now there are more than 600 turtles spread across several countries. Another facility is now holding up to 300 turtles alone. There goal for the next few years are to slowly put these turtles back into the wild. They have yo meet certain standards to be set the wild. But due to rapid habitat loss the turtles that have been sent out to the wild have plummeted. Many programs are still trying to bring back these turtles back to full strength.

The reason why I chose this article is because if the cover image. I saw this cute little turtle and wondered to myself, what happened to this little guy? It turns this cute little turtle was thought to be extinct for many years. Now that they were found and many people are trying to help and save there species makes me very happy. Many men and women are spending a lot of money to help this species get back on their feet.\

This article relates to environmental science because of the animal going extinct. The main reason this animal was going extinct is because of a major problem that is being supported by humans, habit loss. Habitat loss is major cause for many animals to be going extinct and humans are the main source. If we stop doing what we are doing we will have so many different ecosystems and so much biodiversity that Earth will more look like Earth before we started to deforest and other things.

scrAPES 11 - "Look At This: Rain Forest Here"

Look At This: Rain Forest Here by Lourdes Garcia - Navarro, is about the effects and what has happened to the rain forest in South America. The Amazon river is so big that it is half of the planets rain forest. Most of the Amazon is in Brazil, so what ever Brazil does, it matters, a lot. A fifth of the Amazon is already completely gone, which is ridiculous, only due to the size of the Amazon. By taking a huge amount of the Amazon out, it greatly effects the people and the environment. At the constant rate of deforestation in the Amazon, it will not affect the Earth but it will greatly affect us, humans. 

I chose this article because of the cover image. The cover image is a setting of burning grass and leaves with the words "Good Job, Brazil." written across the middle of the image. This struck an interest in me because it made me ask myself, how is burning leaves and plants a good thing? The  rate of deforestation has gone down substantially. 

This article relates to environmental science because of the deforestation happening. We all know that trees are a huge source of our oxygen, so by taking them away it greatly affects us. A fifth of the Amazon already have been wiped out which is roughly the size of West Virginia. Now that's just crazy. It is very difficult to stop people from deforestation but it can happen.

scrAPES 10 - " Coffee spill: Thousands of coffee cans wash up in Indialantic "

Coffee spill: Thousands of coffee cans wash up in Indialantic, by J.D Gallop is an article about an abundance amount of coffee cans that were found, washed up, on a beach. These coffee cans were all sealed and were all scattered on the beach for at least a mile. The coffee most likely came from a container the fell overboard. Containers that fall overboard are actually pretty common. Many people are helping out by picking up these coffee cans everyday. There was so much coffee cans that more and more coffee cans kept reappearing on the beach.

The reason why I chose this article is because I, myself, is a coffee lover. So when I saw this articles title about huge coffee spill it automatically caught my eye.  I wanted to know more about what happened, and before reading the article I predicted that these coffee cans were washed up on shore because of a container that went overboard, I was right.

This article relates to environmental science because these containers that fall overboard are not always going to be coffee cans. And if they were, what would have happened to the ocean if these coffee cans got opened? What would have happened to the fishes? These items spilling out of containers can be very dangerous to the environment it fell in and can greatly affect it.

Blog Post Reflection- "Cornucopia"

The pervasiveness of corn kn out diets is at an all time high. Corn is used in 90% of the products we buy and eat. For example, high fructose corn syrup , cornstarch, corn oil, and etc. It is a major problem that corn is used in 90% of our food. Most the corn used in the food is chemically altered and can be very dangerous to our health. Sometimes these companies are able to not even tell us about these chemicals in the products. For us to be more informed we need to always read the ingredients on the product and search for these chemicals. In some cases, the companies would try and hide these ingredients by abbreviating them, making it seem it is a different ingredient. I feel as if everyone should have the right to know what is in our food. We are the ones consuming these products and we should know what we are putting in our bodies. It is the companies responsibility to inform us, the consumers, about what is inside the food.

Blog Post Reflection- "Dollar Menu Reflection"

In today's video I think subsidizing food is affecting our nation in a very negative way. I believe this because the family in the video were saying that they would rather go eat this very unhealthy food because it was cheaper than buying vegetables. I think that is just ridiculous. In my opinion, I think people should have eating healthy as a right. I think this because with out force, we would not even think about eating healthy. Today my eating habits are very different from my grandparents. The reason for this is because my grandparents are not from America. Back when they were my age, they did not have fast food restaurants like we do. Also in the Philippines, most of the food we cook is organic and not tampered with chemicals. Because of the era of food I was raised in, which is about artificial coloring and flavors,  at a young age I did not eat as healthy but know because I am more athletic and want to be fit I tend to eat more healthy but I have some tendencies to eat unhealthy. Right now, my family is actually very healthy. My dad and my sister started to force the family into eating less and eating healthier and know its our way of living. But buying and growing vegetables organically is very expensive we do tend to go out and buy something cheap like McDonald's or Burger King.

scrAPES #16 - "Greenland's Melting Ice Problem May Be Far Worse Than We Realized"

Greenland's Melting Ice Problem May Be Far Worse Than We Realized, by Lydia O'connor is about Greenland's massive ice problem. The ice sheet, in Greenland, might melt and have the whole island to shrink.  This may happen because of the increasing global temperature. If all of the Ice sheet was to melt, global sea levels will increase almost 23 feet.  The only reason it has not happened yet is because of the firn. The firn is the sponge like snow a top of the ice sheet. The firn traps and holds any melting water that would otherwise run into the ocean. This would help maintain the ice sheet in the summer temperatures. The firn has not been diminished and is still able to help the ice sheet but In the past few summers, there have been unusually high temperature summers. 

This article caught my eye because I have always been interested in global warming and the effects it could have on the Earth. I think that it is very cool that there is this massive ice sheet that can raise sea levels as up to 23 feet. To me, that is mind boggling. Also, there is something called a firn. I just thought it was fascinating to know there is the spongy snow that help collect melted ice before it goes into the ocean. 

This relates to Environmental Science, because of how it can affect the Earth and it's surroundings. Knowing that global warming is effecting the environment but not only us directly relates to environmental science. Global warming has always been a big problem for us and scientists are doing what they can to help stop it or at least slow it down.