Surface runoff

In this world, the journey our food takes to our plate is often a story untold. Meat and dairy are considered an important part of the American diet. Though, many Americans maybe unaware of the process animals take to becoming packaged food. The meat and dairy industries operate off this unawareness to continue the practice of factory farming. Factory farming is a system of livestock used by big corporations to achieve cheap food production. The practice has succeeded because “99% of all…

A Discourse Community is not Absolutely Independent “Discourse Community” is first constructed by Martin Nystrand in 1982 (Heilker & Vandenbergh). All of us can be considered as a part of discourse community. Sometimes we do not recognize that we are in discourse communities, but we will feel a sense of belonging when we in the right discourse communities. However, what is “Discourse Community”? and how to divided discourse communities? According to James E. Porter, “ A discourse community…

The changes vary across the Arctic; the largest decreases occur in maritime regions of the Arctic (Alaska, northern Scandinavia, and the Pacific coast region of Russia) [8]. Climate model projections indicate decreases in the duration of snow cover of 10 to 20% over most of the Arctic by 2050 and Scandinavia will experience the most loss (around 30 to 40%) [2]. 2.4 Temperature Average Arctic temperatures have increased at almost twice the global average rate in the past 100 years according to…

Throughout history a strong correlation has been observed between the presence of environmental pollutants and adverse physiological effects on both humans and wildlife (Olea & Fernandez 2000; Kawai et al. 2003). These pollutants have the capacity to disrupt normal endocrine function, with the majority of cases involving reproductive abnormalities leading to population decline (Kawai et al. 2003). Chemicals with such effects are labelled as endocrine disruptors and can be defined as exogenous…

In the first chapter, Carson highlights the impact of the use of insecticides as used by several government agencies and individuals in killing and eradicating pests. In the first chapter, Carson explains the fable of tomorrow in which she describes the use of chemicals has affected a silent world that was undisturbed. With chemicals such as Strontium 90 to kill insects, these chemicals have got into the food chains. They are consumed by humans and are causing considerable harm to the users. On…

black-footed ferret. Some examples of large mammals that live in the Badlands National Park are bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and deer. The large mammals are large enough that their body size gives them protection against cold; bigger animals have less surface area exposed in relation to their volume, so they lose heat more slowly than a smaller animal would (National Park Service,…

Drones are often seen as a relatively new technology, with the sudden interest in their military and domestic use; however, that is not necessarily the case. Drones have been used since the 1950’s. Some new drones are used for good. For instance, Amazon.com, an online retailer, has recently announced and shown that they will be using drones as a method of shipment, which could lead to drastically shorter shipping times than standard US mail (Amazon). Drones, whether for military or commercial…

Death by Deforestation “Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people” (F.R). Deforestation is caused mainly by human activities, which have increased global warming. In general, deforestation affects the hot and dry areas of the Amazon, but this loss is more than just its regional effect. It is impossible to overstate the impact of the humans destroying the forests. This action transforms forests into a vulnerable land that will be more impacted…

This paper explores the reasons behind the functional extinction of the Eastern Oyster in the New York Harbor, the ecological services that the oyster provided to the Harbor’s ecosystem and the steps to bring back this keystone species. When Europeans first came to the New World, oysters were so abundant around New York City that it was considered the Oyster Capital of the World (Driscoll, 2011) but within 300 years this title would be no more as the oyster became functionally extinct due to…

Urban trees provide a wide range of environmental, ecological, social, cultural and economic benefits. However, as natural objects, they are constantly under stress, and living in an unnatural habitat, which will primarily affect the tree crown. In this study, the Diameter at Breast Height (DBH), Crown Live Ratio (LCR), Crown Dieback (CDBK), Crown Transparency (CT), and Crown Chlorosis (CC) of trees at University of Toronto – St. George campus were assessed by field measurements and Google…