scrAPES 20 - "Charles River Opens for First Public Swim Since the 1950's"

Charles River Opens for First Public Swim Since the 1950's  is about the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts.  Before the 1950s the Charles River was very unsafe to to swim in.  The EPA gave the Charles river a quality of grade D in 1995. But in 2011 The EPA gave it a quality grade of a B, which is a huge grade difference. The water was now safe enough for the public to swim in it, but the bottom of the Charles River was still a very mushy and toxic. Now in the year of 2015, its a whole different story. According to the Boston Globe, there has been huge algae bloom in the Lower Charles River Basin and twice the amount of bacteria.

I chose this podcast because my AP Environmental Science teacher showed us and I was very interested about it. All my life I have lived  in Boston and I always wondered why I have never seen anyone swimming in the river. Also, I always heard growing up that the river was dirty and unsafe to the touch and I thought it was just so that it was a tactic for my parents so i wont run in the river. But I guess it was true the whole time.

This is very important because of the way it effects everyone. It stops a lot of people from enjoying themselves because of how dangerous it is. But it is also a reality check. The problem we have in the Charles River is small compared to what is happening in developing countries. This can help us though. If we figure out a way to help the Charles River get cleaner, imagine what can do for developing countries.

scrAPES #19 - "Chile's salmon farms losing up to $800 million from algal bloom"

"Chile's salmon farms losing up to $800 million from algal bloom" by Anthony Esposito, is all about huse algal bloom in Chile. Chile is the second largest salmon export, where they have already lost over 23 million fish and lost over $800 million in production. There are so many dead fish they can fill over 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools! The main cause of these algal blooms are because of El Nino. El Nino causes the water temperature to increase  at least 2 - 4 degrees (Celsius) above average. El Nino also brings with it a lack of rain, more sunlight and mild winds. These are all the perfect conditions to which algal appear. 

I chose this article because of the title. The very big number caught my attention and the words "losing" right next to it got me hooked. I just had to read what was going on with $800 million and why they were losing it. 

This article is important to the environment because this can happen anywhere and just specifically to salmon. Everything and everyone can get effected by it. But this can help us understand what to do and how to prevent it from happening.