Category: Environment 1339

Ecological problems the world is facing now, their causes and possible solutions to them have recently become the point of wide discussions among scientists and people who care about their future. Ozone holes, global warming, greenhouse effect and polluted air are the results of peoples activities and improper utilization of natural resources. Unfavorable environmental situation is a subject of a number of writers with Tom Berry being the one of those who dedicated his book The Great Work: Our Way into the Future to the causes and possible ways of tackling the ecological problems the planet Earth is currently experiencing. Some readers regard this book as another piece of writing restating the same problems and harping on them with trite arguments, whereas others state that the ideas Tom Berry presents in his book are vital, reasonable, and persuasive. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss five of the main ideas Tom Berry represents in his The Great Work: Our Way into the Future and provide the explanation of these ideas as viewed from the perspective of the modern reader.

One of the main ideas presented in the book is ecological destruction of our planet. These days the nature is suffering from the damage the humans have inflicted and continue to inflict to various life forms: Yet a pervasive awareness of the damage we have done begins to sweep over the land (Berry 47). Stating this, Tom Berry insists that now that earth predicament became so grave only urgent drastic measures are likely to help in improving the situation.

Secondly, the author of the book specifies possible causes which resulted in such an awful destruction. Among these, he names such traits of human character as loss of sensitivity and greediness: The natural world becomes vulnerable to assault by humans (Berry 24). Of course, stating this he does not mean that namely demonstration of these flaws of character resulted in devastation of the Earth. The biggest part here is assigned to the activities in which these traits can be displayed.

Another idea which can be traced in Tom Berrys book is the role of four of the fundamental establishments that control the human realm: governments, corporations, universities, and religions-the political, economic, intellectual, and religious establishments (Berry 4) in transition to the future which would be more ecologically sustainable. The author believes that these establishments can exercise control over people by means of not only educating, guiding, and facilitating the understanding of the ecological problems but by impelling people to act rather than to be mere observers of how the planet is dying.

Furthermore, Tom Berry brings about the idea of possible assistance of different kinds of wisdom in returning the planet its initial look or at least to some extent remedying the situation. To these wisdoms he refers the wisdom of indigenous peoples, the wisdom of women, the wisdom of the traditions (Berry 193) and the wisdom of science. He considers the wisdom to be a source of guidance which contributes to humans understanding the problem and finding possible solutions to it.

And the final idea Tom Berry expresses in his book is the necessity of reestablishment of peoples connection with nature. The author insists that as long as such a connection exists and as long as people respect nature, they can count on its support, for the inner life of the human depends immediately on the outer world of nature (Berry 55). Correspondently, if the nature is damaged or ruined, a human will never be able to find peace and to become well-balanced.

Having discovered five of the main ideas represented in The Great Work: Our Way into the Future, every reader is likely to have his or her own understanding of these ideas. Thus, discussing the idea of todays ecological destruction of the planet, one will agree with the fact that devastation of the Earth has reached its peak. The environmental problems the modern world is facing now are striking and this concerns not only ozone wholes or polluted air. The matter is in the Earths reaction to the damage inflicted by people which results in numerous natural disasters which, as recent events prove, cannot be predicted and prevented. Every year earth-quakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis take thousands of human lives with humans being unable to withstand the nature. Reflecting the second idea, it should be mentioned that, indeed, human greediness and obsession with obtaining more profits resulted in such a devastation of natural resources. Most of enterprises do not follow the basic environmental laws saving money on waste recycling and illegally dumping waste products. It cannot be denied that humanity has reached an unbelievable progress in industrial sphere but this sense of progress is being used as an excuse for imposing awesome destruction on the planet for the purpose of monetary profit (Berry 63). Certain attention should also be paid to the role of governments, universities, religions and corporations in transition to a better future, since each of them can contribute greatly to fighting with ecological problems. For instance, governments could enforce the existing environmental laws and introduce more severe fines for illegal dumping of wastes; universities, in their turn, could overtake the work of informing the population in face of students about the current ecological problems and consequences they may entail; the contribution of corporations could lie in introduction and implementing of new environmental policies, whereas religions could widely preach the necessity of protecting the environment relying on the principles of morality and the fact that people owe their lives to the nature. Whats more, all possible kinds of wisdom will help to work out a many-sided approach to the existing problem with indigenous peoples respect to their roots, womens inborn maternal instinct, ingenuity of classical traditions, and versatility of science. When these are taken as a whole and learned from, remedying the damage inflicted by people will be possible. And eventually, in support of Tom Berrys idea about the reestablishment of connection with nature, it is worth reminding that nature understands people like nobody else for it has created them. Nature comprises keys to all the riddles and answers to all the questions; what is left is to know where to look for the keys. By reestablishing connection with nature people will be able to find the concealed secrets and to embrace the unembraceable, which would give them a possibility to progress without damaging the environment.

Taking into consideration everything mentioned above, it can be stated that Tom Berrys book The Great Work: Our Way into the Future makes it possible to realize all the seriousness of the damage inflicted to nature by people. After specifying five major ideas of the book and discussing them from the perspective of an independent reader, it becomes clear that what is written in a book is not only informative and educational but inducing to urgent actions aimed at salvation of nature and improving environmental situation in the world.

Works Cited

Tom Berry. The Great Work: Our Way into the Future. New York: Bell Tower, 1999.

Introduction

Biodiversity is normally the change in the life cycle of living things in a given geographical zone or area. In this research, the focus will be on the effects of extinction on various aquatic organs and their biodiversity. Biological systems of living things are measured by taking into consideration of their ecological biodiversity (Mitsch, 2004, p. 27). It is important to note that, distinct biological species are found in millions, on the earths biodiversity. Various regions on earth have a different distribution of biodiversity, for example, in polar areas the biodiversity is less compared to tropical areas. Rapid activities on earth especially by human beings have caused the extinction of many species; this extinction due to humans is called Holocene extinction. These activities of human beings have destroyed animal and plant environments (Soule, 2005, p. 13).

The extinction of biodiversity is now causing problems to human health and this is very unfortunate. This effect has caused ripples at the international level, upon which there has been formed an organization by the name, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, to protect these species (Mitsch, 2004,p.56).In aquatic ecosystems, biodiversity is found where there are higher latitudes compared to lower latitudes.

Importance of Preservation

Aquatic biomes are wetlands that contain wet soils, full of vegetation and living organisms. The aquatic biomes are very important in the absorption of carbon dioxide and when these wetlands are destroyed carbon dioxide is exposed to the environment and thus leading to global warming (Soule, 2005, p. 67). These aquatic biomes also contain vegetation, where trees are part of the vegetation and upon the destruction of these trees the consumption of carbon dioxide is inhibited, thus causing the environment to be much exposed to carbon dioxide (Ehrlich, 1998, p.33).

Some vegetation such as mangroves help in the reduction of mudslides, glacier melting, and storms, they also help in controlling floods, which are rampant in bare land that is why human beings should preserve these diverse biomes. It is important for people living in wetlands to conserve these ecosystems to improve their livelihoods (Soule, 2005, p. 76).

Chemicals that come from many agricultural farms are effectively filtered by these aquatic zones, thus helping in purifying water zones. Good examples of countries that have preserved wetlands are; New Zealand, the United States, and South Africa, where acts of resource management have been enacted (Mitsch, 2004, p. 10). The goal of such regulation is to ensure that these wetlands are sustained and rehabilitated.

Why should humans be concerned with the extinction rate?

Extinction of biodiversity is the massive decrease of certain organisms in a specific geographical zone. It is believed that a large percentage of species that existed on earth before have now become extinct, this is based by scientists on the fossil records (Soule, 2005, p.36).

The rate at which biodiversity is becoming extinct is causing food chains to collapse, this is occurring on both sea and land. The collapse of this food cycle is inhibiting the rate of photosynthesis (Ehrlich, 1998, p.33). With such changes, human beings need to be concerned since this will affect them directly.

Biodiversity degradation usually causes the earth to be arider, this leads to the death of many species which are not adapted to these temperatures (Soule, 2005, p. 45).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the focus has been made mainly on the urge to protect aquatic zones due to the importance they have to human beings and the destruction of these biome zones can cause serious consequences to nature.

References

1. Ehrlich, A. (1998). Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species. New York, Random House institute.
2. Mitsch, G. (2004).Wetlands a vanishing resource: Wetlands in Danger, New York: Cambridge University Press.
3. Soule, M. E. (2005). Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis. Washington DC: World Resources Institute Press.

Abstract

The proposal has a high degree of potential strengths regarding to the subject for the development of this Historical Reconstruction of our ecology. On this issue of project formulation the very key ingredient missing on the other hand requires my devotion preliminary commentary to suggest the definition of necessary involvement. Different ways for the approach to the carrying out this project may be applied to the underlined fictional scenario. With the obligation of being in charge of the current land use assessment and environmental issues in the Oregons river basin, a wide-ranging recommendations about how and why to proceed with a particular program of restoration has to be verified.

This has therefore indicated that the duo concepts needed in essential definition of the re-establishment goals of river restoration are, a reference condition to define the restoration goals themselves (often taken as a natural, pre-anthropogenic disturbance state) and a process-based appreciation of how to attain the laid down goals. Usually one can be able to utilize the surficial geologic record information on procedures of trying to use the laid preventive measures in averting ecological effects thus ideas brings about the construction both of the concepts. On the same description we give the explanation of what is meant by some of these concepts, but focus on the clarity of the fact that the kind of information already proposed is truly examined in this assignment and is fundamental. An enlightenment of the thesis clarification is therefore purposeful and in this paper, in the conservation purposes there is need for the prevention of un-purposeful deforestation and regulation of river waters for irrigation and other man-made utilization of available resources.

This lays down the valuable significance of the information in many ways, for instance, DRC program will enlarge riparian areas outside federal guiding principles and ensure the trees are maintained for at least 50 years (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 2009) and the target is that, by 2008 1500 to 1800 acres of riparian environment will be restored and vigorously sequestering carbon.

This would lead to changes in the geomorphic features and affected land use requirements or convenience, and describes the way riparian area is altered by these land use requirements. These matters are integrated meaningfully in giving conclusion which gives a particular assessment of environmental conservation programs such as these ones. It is necessary to give a proposal that through implementation of these targets, one can highly improve the rate of restoration of these environments.

Introduction

The concept of restoration of our ecosystems of the river banks has been a perennial issue, in the world for example in the Western areas of the United States. This historical ecological damage has encouraged the invention of ways through which notable changes can be made to safeguard the good ecology environment, through formulation of given legislation in order to determine how the resources in the river banks. This defined that the use of river waters should follow the in stream flows regulation, a factor which led to an idea of states having a claim on the allocation of waters not in use in the river (Livingston and Miller; McKinney and Taylor). For instance in the case of the Deschutes River Conservancy (DRC), program that helps landowners in the Deschutes River Land basin afforest denude riparian areas with a cover of the indigenous vegetative cover along the Oregon major streams (Mathias, 2003).

In Oregon forest where there is a development of conservation efforts a lot of factors facilitating the degeneration have been taken into consideration, and using this as a theme, this paper seeks to explain the fact that improper land use and deforestation along the river basins are the major causes of ecological disintegration.

Agriculture and other man made activities are highly related to the environmental issues of a community. In the foundation of reversing these ecological devastation one has to consider how the running surface streams can be restored, as this will be the target for sound conservation of land resources. In order to achieve this re-establishment of a river requires two vital concepts that is giving a indication stipulator defining renovation goals which often is taken as a natural, pre-anthropogenic interruption status, and a process-based consideration of ways through which these targets can be attained. The information to define these goals and effects on environmental conservation principles by reforestation, can give the surficial geologic record can be used to construct both of these concepts.

The River

The Deschutes River, a major tributary of the Columbia River, is found in central Oregon and it drains the eastern side of the Cascade Range. The river has a lake Billy Chinook formed by the manmade Round Butte dam. It is located between the flanks of the Cascade Range in central Oregon and the Ochoco Mountains; it flows north draining about 27,000sq.km. As it flows past the community of Sunriver, and into the city of Bend, much of the water is diverted for irrigation; this greatly reduces the volume of water leaving the city through the river. It is estimated that as much as 97% of the water is diverted to the farms for irrigation during summer.

The river goes ahead to carve a gorge through the central Oregon desert that is up to 300 feet below the surrounding plateau in some areas. The drainage basin of the river has been shown to have in the past covered by shallow seas. Additionally, the area was reshaped by volcanic activity. The central Oregon plateau is formed by vast amounts of lava that have formed layers. Most of the rocks that the river has carved through are therefore volcanic. About 1-4 million years ago, the Deschutes canyon formed through a series of volcanic and tectonic activities. The river basin itself is formed with igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic; their ages range from 1300 years to 250 million years. The periodical flooding and water erosion of the rocks coupled with the Missoula floods have all played a part in the current outlook of the river; this was during the glacial periods. The river has a unique feature of being uniformly flowing; this is unlike most of the other rivers of its size in the US.

Following the diversion of most of the water from the river, there have been severe ecological changes on the riparian ecology. Some of the natural flora and fauna have suffered heavily from this diversion. Additionally, farming along the riverbanks has led to denuding of the area. The effect of this has been severe soil erosion along the riverbank; tonnes of silt end up in the river every year.

Additionally, when the volume of the water reduces in the river course, the temperature of the water rises with adverse effects on the population of fish in the affected area. The agricultural requirements for water are enough to dry up the section between Bend and Lake Billy Chinook (Bureau of reclamation), but the farmers have agreed that during the irrigation season they will leave 30csf of water during the dry season. The situation has been made worse by the reduction of the amount of snow feeding the river on the mountain ranges due to effects of global warming.

The total supply of water in the river is not an issue because spring recharge completely restores the volume of the river before it empties into the Columbia. This is due to the return of the leeched water from the aquifer. However the section between the canal outlet and the recharge is seriously deprived of precious water necessary for the survival of the ecosystem.

Restoration of the Ecology

There are several steps that need to be taken in order to restore the riparian ecosystem of the river

1. Prevention of further damage; as I have mentioned before, during some periods of the year, up to 90% of the water is diverted to farms for irrigation purposes. This is done by use of irrigation canals. This deprives the downstream areas enough water to sustain an ecosystem. The canal system of transporting water is very wasteful; thousands of gallons of water are lost through evaporations. It is important to note that the farming activities cannot be stopped as these activities are linked to food security of the country; therefore, steps should be aimed at mitigating the situation. One of the ways of doing this is by the use of pipes rather than canals to transport water; this will result in less loss of water through evaporation; consequently, less water will have to be taken out of the river. Past attempts of replacing the canals with pipes have been resisted with the opponents defending the scenic nature of the canals; this system is however not sustainable. The other way that the canals loose water is by leeching; this can also be prevented by lining of the canals. Additionally, the farmers will be encouraged to use more water-efficient farming systems so that they use less water from the pipeline.
2. The next step that will be taken is the recovery of the riverbanks; this will be done through the planting of fast growing trees. Although the trees may not be indigenous, they will act as a band-aid to the river banks before more comprehensive measures are put in place.
3. Enlarge the span of land between the river banks and the farm lands; this will reduce the amount of soil erosions occurring along the river bank.
4. Planting of the reconstruction zone with the indigenous species of flora; these may take a relatively longer time to mature into a full grown ecosystem; however, at the end of the program the result will have a more realistic outlook. Land owners along the area of concern will be recruited to cede some of their land for the reforestation and will be required to maintain the tree stand for a specified period of time.
5. Legislative protection of the reconstructed area is of uttermost importance; in order to sufficiently incubate the reconstructed area, there should be no economic activity taking place there. These include farming, lumbering, mining and even real estate.

Lessons can be drawn from the Deschutes Riparian reforestation project implemented by the Deschutes river conservancy. It has a lifetime of fifty years and commenced in 2002. The program planted native species of trees into the denuded land and entered into contract with the land owners to maintain the tree stands for at least fifty years. The aim was to restore 1500 to 1800 acres of the habitat along the river by year 2008. After these years the tree stands can then be utilized for any commercial purposes but in a sustainable manner.

In order to achieve all these objectives, there are several requirements that must be put in place

A plan

The formulated plan of action should be comprehensive, detailed, and pragmatic; it should also have a long term outlook. All the relevant government and private organizations involved with the river activities should be involved in the formulation of this plan. In addition, the local community should also be involved in the planning for a better acceptance of the project in the area.

Funding

This will be a major hurdle to surmount in the implementation of the program. It is my belief that the reconstruction and the welfare of the rivers ecosystem is of great interest to many private and public individuals and organizations; therefore, funding will be sought aggressively from both the public and private domain. The money gathered will be managed in form of trust fund; the trustees of the fund will be drawn from the local community, the financial contributors to the fund, the concerned government agencies and the organization assisting the program. Contribution to the fund will remain open. This will allow for the long term outlook of the program to be achieved.

Execution of the plan

Ecological expertise is of great importance in this case to prevent the project from turning into white elephant project. Other projects of this type and magnitude have had serious failure due to improper application of expertise; this can also be caused by not having a long term outlook.

It is my opinion that once the funding has been obtained, a new authority consisting of experts and stakeholders should be formed as a policy forming body of the project. This will be charged by the management of the day to day functioning of the program.

The local community along the area of recreation should be involved this will enable them to own the program following this they will be able to take the program once the implementing authority has withdrawn.

Conclusion

From the plan above, it is obvious that the reconstruction cannot take place without the participation of more that one area of interest. The local community which includes the Native American community, the landowners and the farmers have to be convinced to support the program as they must cede some of their land for the reconstruction.

Setting of pragmatic but definite goals is critical to success of this program; this will only be possible if the situation on the ground is examined thoroughly [Kondolf et al, 2003]. Records of geologic information about the area are very crucial in constructing a conceptual picture of how the area will turn out after the application of the various procedures. Additionally, the constant evaluation of the progress is critical to finding out if it is working or not.

Work Cited

Kondolf, M. and Piégay, H. Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology: Illustrated edition, John Wiley and Sons, 2003.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, (2009): Lower Deschutes Wildlife Area Management Plan. Web.

Turner and Perry, G. Agriculture to In stream Water Transfers under Uncertain Water Availability: A Case Study of the Deschutes River, Oregon: Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 22(2):208-221: Western Agricultural Economics Association, 1997.

Definition of Earthquake

An Earthquake also known as tremor or quake, an Earthquake is the behavior by the earths surface blocks to suddenly slide past one another casing tearing of the blocks. The plane from which the block slides from is refferred to as fault plane. The position that is below the earhs surface where the earthquake originated is referred to as the hypocenter and the position that is directly above the hypocenter on the earths surface is referred to as the epic center (Green & Burnley, 1989).

Scientifically an earthquake is defined as production of seismic waves because of the abrupt ejection of energy from the earths crust. These seismic waves are measured using the seismograph (seismometer) (Bolt,1999). Seismometers contain the base that is firmly attached to the ground and a bulky weight that is loosely hanging. When the ground shakes, the base that is attached to the ground is the one, which is shaken while the loosely suspended weight is not moved. The difference of the shaken base and the loosely hanging weight is what is called the intensity of the earthquake and it depends on where you are during the earthquake (Watson, & Kathie, 1998).

Scientists are also concerned with assessing the magnitude of the earthquake. Since measuring the earthquakes depends on measuring the fault size and the extent of the slip, the measuring tape is inadequate to do this job. Hence, they depend on the seismographs produced by the seismometer in order to measure the size of the earthquake. The length of the wiggle lines is the measure of the amount of fault slip. If the wiggle lines are very small, it means the size of the fault is small. The size of the earthquake is measured in (Richter, moment) magnitude (Talebian & Jackson, 2004).

Cause the Earth to quake and shake

The earth is made up of four layers: the crust (outer most) followed by the mantle, and then the outer core and the inner core (the innermost part.).The crust is further made up of many pieces called the tectonic plates, which are always in motion sliding past each other or sometimes colliding. The edges of these tectonic plates are called plate boundaries and they are always rough.

The tectonic earthquake is the common earthquake that results from plate boundaries colliding on each other because of their rough edges; they are stuck on each other while the other part of the plate keeps moving causing frictional force. Once this frictional force is beyond the critical value, it can result to violent dislodgement of earths crust, which is as result of sudden failure at the fault. This result in the discharge of the elastic strain energy thus, seismic waves are emitted (Watson, & Kathie, 1998).

Two types of body waves an earthquake creates

It is common for earthquakes to generate seismic waves that adjust the shape of the rocks. On the earth surface, these two waves are S (shear) or P (push) waves.

The P waves are known to move very fast than the S waves. The P waves are similar to lightening whilst the S waves are equated to the thunder. During rainy weather, you could see the lightening first before you could hear the sound. Since light travels faster than the sound. This case also applies to the P and S waves depending the distance you are. P waves shake the ground where you are and rather the S wave comes rather depending your distance from the epic center (Green & Burnley, 1989).

The S wave moves inside the rocks they cause neither compression nor expansion on the rock but it does make the rock to resonate perpendicularly on their static place. A behavior likened when you perpendicularly shake a rope that is tied at one end. This kind of motion is called the shearing motion. The P waves have the ability to cause horizontal expansion and contraction in rocks. They have a potential to move the rocks from their original place (Watson, & Kathie, 1998).

The S Waves are known to penetrate through the solids and not in liquids since liquids does not have shear strength compared to P waves, which have a potential travel through both in solids and liquids (Talebian & Jackson, 2004)

Conclusion

From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the Earthquake can cause the earth to move horizontally because of shear waves or move perpendicularly depending of the type of wave. This result to divergent borders, convergent borders and transform fault borders (Talebian & Jackson, 2004).

Transform fault boundary, which is also referred to as thrust fault transpires when the block glides or drudges past each other down a transform line. The motion of the plates can be either Sinatra or dextral. Divergent boundaries occurs when two plates slid past each other and lastly convergent boundaries also called active margin it occurs when one plate moves below another or moving on top of another plate.

References

Bolt, B. A. (1999). Earthquakes. Boston, MA: W. H. Freeman.

Greene, H. W., Burnley, P. C. (1989). A new self-organizing mechanism for deep-focus earthquakes. Nature 341: 733737.

Talebian, M., Jackson, J. (2004). A reappraisal of earthquake focal mechanisms and active shortening in the Zagros mountains of Iran. Geophysical Journal International.

Watson, John., Kathie P. (1998). Volcanoes and Earthquakes. United States Geological Survey. Web.

Introduction

Emissions are part of externalities because they have both positive and negative impacts that can be interpreted in monetary value. Two policies that can be adopted to curb emissions include reducing the emission of greenhouse gases by giving incentives to firms and institutions that have cut emissions. In addition, there is a policy of setting standards regarding energy production. The latter aims at adopting green energy production such as wind energy, solar, biogas, and geothermal energy among other environmentally friendly energy sources. Apart from the production of green energy, energy firms can adopt the use of gasoline as a blending component because gasoline when mixed with ethanol significantly reduces carbon emissions. Incentive-based policies on the other hand focus on reward schemes to those firms that cut on carbon emission. Also, the policy can be exercised via imposing charges on those firms that emit high carbon wastes into the atmosphere. Setting standards as a policy contains well-laid strategies that are to be adopted in totality; whereas, incentive-based policies leave carbon reduction responsibilities to firms management.

Main body

Adoption of standard policies means production and use of green energy. Wind as a source of green energy is beneficial due to its renewability and availability. Wind energy is evenly distributed in the world. The cost of producing wind energy keeps getting cheaper as a result of new technologies that are being developed. It is forecasted that wind energy production will soon become the cheapest mode of energy creation on a large-scale basis.

Another advantage of wind energy is that it is a non-pollutant and permanently available. It is perceived that if all the wind energy is properly harnessed, the world would produce ten folds the amount of energy used today. This will be a real answer to dependency on fossil fuel energy whose supply depends on diplomatic ties and treaty signings.

In the determination of the cost of externalities for incentive-based policies, several ways can be used. One method is referred to as Pigouvian Tax in which tax is levied depending on the damage caused. If one gallon of fuel results in $7 damage to the environment, the same cost is incurred by the firm that produces that particular energy whenever sales are made. In ABC Company Limited produces 10,000 gallons a week, a tax levied against it will be $70,000 per week. These figures when translated to monthly or annual figures will be as high as approximately $3,360,000 annually. No firm can expend such rates without drawing the attention of the managers.

On the other hand, standard policies call for infrastructural development to set up machines and equipment to harness green energy. Wind energy has high initial charges that are incurred in the purchase of equipment and machines. In addition to this, extra parcels of land need to be considered and this cost varies from state to state and from one region to the other. Other costs would be labor and since it is a high technology field, more investment should be geared towards research and development. Assuming that; machine and equipment cost $2.6 billion, Land in Ohio ranges from $2500- $20000 per acre (200 acres = $2,000,000 on average), Labor costs are estimated at $15,000,000 annually, the total initial cost of producing wind energy would be approximately $2.5 billion. In the subsequent year, the costs will reduce drastically given that only labor and other recurring costs will be incurred. As the technology of wind power further continues, the cost of machines and equipment would be significantly lowered.

Conclusion

The justified level of emission should be compared to those set in the Kyoto and Copenhagen climate talks. For example, a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 can be a guiding principle for measuring the success of green projects. Another method of determining the reduction level of emission would be a summation of tax levied on firms to deduce the levels of emission reduction. 21st-century oil-producing companies must however develop an environmentally sustainable project for the benefit of both the firm and community. Consumers are becoming more and more environmentally sensitive and it is high time firms practice environmentally friendly business practices.

Introduction

In any part of the world, indigenous groups will always feel threatened when an outside group arrives to settle on their land. Many parts of the world have so far been opened up thanks to the colonization process in the course of so many years. Cultures and ways of life are affected when different cultures interact. There are ways of life that survive while others die due to the adaptation of other peoples way of doing things. However, there are cases where the indigenous groups resist attempts to affect their way of life especially when there are attempts to tamper with the land and environment they have lived in for years.

The indigenous people in the Amazon area of South America are a perfect example of a people who have struggled against the tide of change and industrialization for the sake of the environment they live in. This paper examines the rise of indigenous groups in the Amazon and their relationship with environmentalists as well as these peoples demands for self-determination. It will also explore the extent to which these natives have managed to live according to the myth of primitive ecological wisdom.

Rise of Indigenous rights groups in the Amazon

The indigenous groups that live in the Amazon of the South Americas are generally referred to as the Amerindians. This term can be traced to Christopher Columbus who thought he had reached his destination during the journey in search of Asia. Only 10% of Amerindians survived the European entry with the majority of them being pushed further into the forest(Butler, 2010 par.2). This statistic bears evidence that the marauding visitors adversely affected these peoples way of life. Probably, the visitors destroyed the main source of livelihood of the Amerindians resulting in such a catastrophic level of population decline.

Today, these people still live in the forests but the settling groups from Europe have affected most of their original traditions. According to Butler, these people had an understanding of biodiversity thus had organized criteria of making sure the forest was well preserved(2010). They knew what was good for them and pursued it diligently for survival. Environmentalists refer to this kind of understanding by the uncivilized people as primitive ecological wisdom. This tradition of sustaining the natural environment is among those that are faced with danger.

Butler(2010 par. 5) notes that the Tageri group is endangered by those making forays into oil exploration in Ecuador. The same group had been declared untouchable by the Ecuadorian government and their wish to stay away from the civilized world was granted(Hajduko,2007 para.2). The Yanomami who live across Brazil and Venezuela are also a victim of direct invasion of their native land. With the advance of the modernized man in search of material and oil wealth, the Amerindians had to find a way to protect what is rightfully theirs. This spelled the beginning of the formation of protection groups that are monitoring activities by foreigners in the Amazon.

Presently, several groups advocate for the rights of indigenous Amerindians and they majorly operate from within the borders of the country they are in. In Brazil, the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon(COIAB) is an amalgamation of other small rights groups in the large South American country. Ecuador indigenous groups have a similar outfit known as the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) with contemporary groupings in all the other Amazon countries.

These groups have been at loggerheads mostly with governments of their respective states. Many successful oil exploration ventures have been done in areas occupied by these indigenous groups. It has been up to these indigenous groups to come together in protest against companies that want such oil fields. The Peruvian groupings saw the death of 30 people during a protest against Hunt Oil Company, an American company, which had been allocated a huge chunk of oil-rich land(Gilman 2009) in the Amazon forest area. The unfortunate occurrence saw President Alan Garcia rescind some of the decrees he had issued(Gilman, 2009, para. 4). The authorities were feeling the impact of the rights groups. The rights groups seem to be brought together by antagonism against any of them across the borders as was witnessed during a protest against the killings across the Amazon.

Brazil has seen the demarcation of thousands of acres set apart as parks and land for the native Amerindians. The government earmarked about 12 percent of the Brazilian land to assign to the over 450,000 indigenous people who account for just 0.25 percent of the total population(Butler, 2010, para. 8).

Ecuadors CONAIE has taken governments to task on various matters that touch directly on their people. In 2005, Lucio Gutierrez lost the presidency of Ecuador after mass protests led by indigenous peoples groupings after falling out with their trust. Later, they have stood up to President Correas plan to partition the small country into seven administrative units. All these efforts are thought out to make sure it weakens the indigenous peoples unity by separating them(Saavedra, 2009). As much as the indigenous people are being pressed down in the Amazon area, they have discovered that when they stand together through rights groups, their voices become louder and stronger.

Their Relationship with Environmentalists

The relationship born between the environmentalists and the indigenous people stems from how the two groups view natural biodiversity. Rayner(cited in Milton, 1996 p. 109) notes the view held by the modern man that the uncivilized society, the kind that lives in the Amazon, possesses a type of primitive ecological wisdom. Environmentalists think that such wisdom has been presented as a dogma, thus taking the place of a myth(Milton, 1996). This kind of wisdom is believed to make the indigenous people preserve their environments.

People who live in the bush have to struggle to keep their biodiversity balanced if they want to survive for long periods. They have to maintain the forests and make them remain as natural as possible so as not to upset the ecosystem since they have that wisdom that when not well taken care of, any natural thing can be extinct. Environmentalists share this vision of preserving nature. The two groups must thus work together for the attainment of this particular goal among others.

The Nature Conservancy has a program to conserve areas threatened with deforestation and environmental degradation through human activity such as mining and oil drilling in conjunction with COIAB.

The Nature Conservancy, from 2003 has cooperated with COIAB to help the bid for indigenous lands found in the Amazon conservation. COIAB initiated the Ethno-environmental Department to tackle the environmental issues of the indigenous lands directly. The relationship Conservancy gives financial support to COIAB to see to it that the rights group fulfills its mandate in fighting for the indigenous communities. Policymakers have been influenced by scientific studies developed through the cooperation of the Conservancy and COIAB in formulating policies to conserve the indigenous lands.

Environmentalists have been at the forefront in championing oil and gas drilling in the Amazon to protect these indigenous people from toxic chemicals spilled into the ecosystem. Such was the basis of U.S oil company Chevron-Texado receiving stiff resistance from environmentalists and indigenous people. This is because it could be proved that the company was responsible for the high cancer cases and extinction of an indigenous group in the Ecuador Amazon(Pierce, 2009, para. 9). Environmentalists seem to regard these native people in high terms as the best suited to interact with natural forests without bringing a negative impact on them.

Conclusion

It is imperative to assert that the role played by natives of the greater Amazon rain forest cannot be gainsaid. Through their primitive ecological wisdom, these people have managed to keep the forests ecosystem intact and are determined to continue doing so by isolating themselves from the modern man and his destructive practices. However, it is going to be a difficult war to achieve self-determination in many of the countries that fall under the Amazon since industrialists are determined to get to the oil deposits that the forests sit on. Governments are after the much-sought revenue and a little lapse from even those guaranteed some lifeline in their traditional homes like those in Brazil will give room to all the capitalists who are waiting to pounce on the slightest opportunity.

References

Butler, R. 2010. People in the Amazon Rainforest. Web. 

Gilman, E. 2009. Peru plans more Amazon oil auctions. Web.

Hajduko, S.2007. Ecuador Culture and Society, Ecuador. Web.

Milton, K.1996. Myth of Primitive Ecological Wisdom. Web.

Pierce, S. 2009. SOS Amazon  World Social Forum Lends Indigenous Leaders and Supporters Opportunity to Defend Amazon Rainforest. Web.

Saavedra, L. 2009. Amazon indigenous groups unite. Web.

The Nature Conservancy, 2010. Brazilian indigenous federation is key Conservancy ally in the Amazon rainforest. Web. 

Frequent tornadoes are typical climate features in North America that happen in different regions including Canada, the East Coast and the Florida Peninsula. Special sirens are installed to warn citizens about the emergence of a tornado, and houses are supplied with lower-level safe spaces; however, these means are not sufficient to keep people entirely from harm. The consequences of tornadoes are inevitable, and many different organizations help people overcome difficulties caused by such disasters. AmeriCares is one such organization that provides all kinds of help and assistance before, during and after a tornado strikes, and AmeriCares can supplement governmental aid to tornado victims.

AmeriCares is a nonprofit international humanitarian organization located in Connecticut that supports long-term health programs and provides assistance in emergencies. Robert Macauley founded the organization in 1982 under the basic premise of collecting tax-exempt donations of medical instruments, materials, and drugs from individuals, U.S. corporations, and foundations (AmeriCares, n.d.). Having established close relations with more than one thousand large pharmaceutical and medical companies, AmeriCares now cooperates with various global companies and takes in donations in the form of medicines, diagnostic and medical equipment and tools, as well as food and food supplements (Simmons & Adachi, 2012). AmeriCares stores information about the goods transactions to ensure efficient and transparent distribution of all donations. The company stores materials intended for victims of natural disasters, such as tornadoes, in a separate warehouse in Connecticut, where they are easily accessible. After a tornado descends, materials are sent immediately to the disaster locations. The company privately organizes transportation and then distributes materials and medication, free of charge.

After a tornado event, the company utilizes its emergency response program, which enables efficient responses to all calls for help. After receiving notification about a disaster, AmeriCares activates an information network, collecting information about the extent of the event and begins to prepare the necessary transportation of materials to the disaster area, at the same time preparing their disaster nursing forces (Loke & Fung, 2014). Apart from medical provisions, AmeriCares sends the team to the area for the medication distribution. The team collects information about needs for nursing support, clarifies the number of injured, and figures out the quantity of nursing staff needed to complete any necessary rescue operation (Spain, Clements & DeRanieri, 2012; Adams & Berry, 2012). In catastrophic events, the health care system should work to its full efficiency, but often the number of nurse practitioners is not enough to aid all the injured, in which case AmeriCares provides on-the-spot nursing support. Nurses help manage the current situation, administer first aid, and help rescue and relocate survivors.

AmeriCares meets all governmental requirements in terms of nursing; the organization enables the staff to receive necessary certification and licensing to provide health care services. The nursing and surgical teams, as well as people responsible for medication distribution, are among the first on site in the disaster zone, where they deliver everything needed for assistance or resuscitation of victims. Apart from that, the organizations supply families with emergency kits, which enable people to prepare for upcoming tornadoes (W. A. Afifi, T.D. Afifi & Merrill, 2014). The overall goal of the company is to provide essential aid through medication, personnel, and disaster planning. AmeriCares is the multifunctional company that bears full responsibility for its staff and provisions, thus providing high-quality aid during and after tornadoes.

References

Adams, L., & Berry, D. (2012). Who will show up? Estimating ability and willingness of essential hospital personnel to report to work in response to a disaster. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 1(2). Web.

Afifi, W. A., Afifi, T. D., & Merrill, A. (2014). Uncertainty and control in the context of a category-five tornado. Research in Nursing & Health, 37(5), 358366.

AmeriCares. (n.d.) Emergency programs. Web.

Loke, A. Y., & Fung, O. W. M. (2014). Nurses competencies in disaster nursing: Implications for curriculum development and public health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(3), 32893303.

Simmons, K., & Adachi, K. (2012). Global collaboration in disaster nursing. AORN Journal, 96(2), 196-202.

Spain, K. M., Clemets, P. T., & DeRanieri, J. T. (2012). When disaster happens: Emergency preparedness for nurse practitioners. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 8(1), 38-44.

Executive Summary

This paper is a submission by Mitsubishi to the Local Network. It contains recommendations about the implementation of two of the ten United Nations Global Compact principles. The eighth and ninth principles have been chosen. Risks, benefits, and lessons learned during implementation are also included. The Local Network should be able to use these recommendations in implementing its strategy. Mitsubishi found that the implementation of these principles brought benefits to the company. These ranged from intangible ones like improved reputation to tangible ones like cost saving. However, some costs were also incurred. Nevertheless, the company recommends the adoption of these principles to all the member companies of the Local Network.

Main Text

Dear Sir,

Mitsubishi is proud to be associated with the Local Network. In light of the new development in which all members have become signatories to the United Nations Global Compact, we would like to make some recommendations regarding the adoption of the ten principles. This submission focuses on two principles that we have implemented at Mitsubishi and with which we are most conversant. These are principles eight and nine which deal with the environment (United Nations, 2010).

Principle eight is concerned with business initiatives to promote environmental responsibility. Companies that adopt this voluntary Global Compact should engage in all possible business initiatives to make a positive impact on the environment and reduce their negative impact. Some of these practises would include modification of company visions and missions to include environmental goals, conducting periodic assessments of their environmental impact, setting environment-related goals, and adopting other voluntary codes of conduct.

Principle nine encourages businesses to develop and spread the use of environmentally friendly technology. This involves a lot of research and development. Such technology would encourage recycling, better disposal of non-organic trash, and more sustainable use of all resources. Companies that embrace this principle are also likely to experience cost-saving. In some industries, this technology has become a core competence as consumers move towards a trend of buying from environmentally friendly companies.

Incorporation of these principles into company operations would bring with it several changes. Staff would have to be educated on the importance of the program in order to secure their cooperation. Some companies may have to alter their organizational culture to suit the application of these principles. This is especially in solely profit-driven companies. Top management would have to be informed about the importance of leading by example. They should show their contribution towards compliance with the two principles. Companies that choose to adopt these principles should also be ready to incur a financial cost. This can be classified as expenditure on Corporate Social Responsibility. However, the views of major stakeholders need to be considered (Mackenthun, 1999).

Lessons Learnt in the Implementation of principles eight and nine of the Global Compact

Initial environmental reviews are essential to the success of the implementation project. They enable the company to determine the extent of its interactions with the environment and their impact. This is important in the planning stage as it determines the environmental solutions the company creates. An environmental policy also assists in compliance with these principles. This policy will set out the companys stand about environmental matters. It will clarify the objectives of these principles and what actions the company intends to take to comply with them. Responsibility and authority for the achievement of the set-out objectives will also be allocated within the policy (Cramer, Claude, and Sebastian 2004).

This implementation program is bound to fail if top management support is not secured. At Mitsubishi, we had to learn this the hard way. Some of the initial initiatives to develop environmentally friendly technology failed miserably due to a lack of top management support. Management did not see the importance of these initiatives thus inadequate resources were allocated to them during planning. Honda, a company operating in the automobile industry also faced similar challenges in implementing the two mentioned principles. It also found it difficult to prioritize the implementation since a lot of resources were required immediately. Honda solved this problem by hiring a consultancy firm in environmental matters to help them run the implementation project (Rasche, Georg, and Ban Ki-Moon. 2010).

Benefits

Environmental friendly technology enables a company to save on the use of raw materials thus increasing efficiency. This will result in cost-saving, which in turn, increases profitability. Developing and using environmentally friendly technology can also give a company a competitive advantage over its rivals. Environmental responsibility, which is proposed by principle eight, creates a positive image of the company and may attract prospective investors.

The positive image generated by environmentally friendly initiatives will attract prospective employees and customers. Government legislation may also be reduced if an industry is seen to be self-regulating. Employee morale may also be boosted as they believe they are helping to conserve nature (Theodore and Louis, 2009).

Risks

The implementation cost of these principles is bound to reduce the profit margins. Shareholders may not take this positively. Some may view this as a diversion of their funds. The company may also need a change in the machinery and raw material used. These are likely to be more expensive because of their long-term cost savings and minimal environmental impact. Research and development costs may also increase with the implementation of principle nine (Buchholz, 1998).

Some suppliers may have to be dropped if their products are not environmentally friendly. This may strain trading relations. New, reliable suppliers whose products meet the current specifications would have to be found.

Recommendations

Emphasis on Proper Planning

Companies in the Local Network that seek to adopt principles eight and nine of the Global Compact should be advised to take the time to plan carefully. They should establish the manpower and resource requirements of the project beforehand. If an environmental department needs to be set up, qualified personnel should be sought. The Local Network can help by seeking consultants to help companies in doing this (Russo, 2008).

Emphasis on Securing Top Management Support

Top management determines the strategic direction of the company. They have the power to sabotage a project or support it through completion. Workshops to educate them should be held. They could be encouraged to sign commitment sheets as physical evidence of their involvement in the initiative. After their commitment is secured, they could be asked to rally for major stakeholders support.

Reviews and Audits

Accountability helps to check that companies are still pursuing the vision. Environmental audits should be carried out periodically and the outcome reviewed. This way, companies ought to be able to tell if they are making progress or not. They could be encouraged to publish the results of these audits and reviews in the Financial Statements as voluntary information. This will enable stakeholders to keep track of managements environmental efforts (Barrow, 2006).

Reference List

Barrow, Christopher J. 2006. Environmental Management for Sustainable Development (Routledge Environmental Management). Toronto: Routledge.

Buchholz, Rogene. 1998.Principles of Environmental Management: The Greening of Business. Chicago: Prentice Hall.

Cramer, Aron, Claude Fussler, and Sebastian van der Veqt. 2004.Raising The Bar: Creating Value with the United Nations Global Compact. Chicago: Greenleaf Pubns.

Mackenthun, Kenneth M. 1999. Basic Concepts in Environmental Management. London: CRC Press.

Rasche, Andreas, Georg Kell, and Ban Ki- Moon. 2010. The United Nations Global Compact: Achievements, Trends and Challenges. Philadelphia: Cambridge University Press.

Russo, Michael V. 2008. Environmental Management: Readings and Cases. New York: Sage Publications.

Theodore, Mary K, and Louis Theodore. 2009. Introduction to Environmental Management. London: CRC Press.

United Nations. 2010.Global Compact International Yearbook 2010 (United Nations Global Compact Office). Nairobi: United Nations.

Introduction

Tropical rainforests are characterized by tall trees, lots of rain, and warm climate. Some rain forests experience rains of up to one inch each day. They have a variety of tree and animal species, they contain between 50 and 90 percent of the earths species although they only cover up to 6% of the earths surface. From all over the world, more than hundred million people either live in or directly depend on rainforests and most of the domesticated animals and food crops have been developed from species in rainforests. Due to tropical deforestation it is estimated that at least 40 plants and animals species perish each day. This paper therefore focuses on the importance of rainforests today, the reasons for deforestation in rainforests compared to the effects of deforestation in rainforests and why their cutting should be limited.

Importance of rainforests

Forests are associated with many values and this should be understood by people so that we can be in a better position to protect our forests, some of these values include:

Climate and the green house effect

Rainforests are like a dark mass on the earth that absorbs heat from the sun which makes the air above it cooler hence more likely to rain. Below the dense canopy in the forest, humidity is high and steady compared to the rest of the world, they evaporate large amounts of water into the atmosphere which leads to formation of clouds that cause rain again not just in the forest but some are carried away with the wind and cause rain in other parts of the world. As rainforest clear however, they are replaced by deserts and grasslands above which the air is hotter, this discourages cloud formation and the areas remain dry, eventually, this alters the water circulation in the atmosphere altering the weather conditions of the region largely up to many miles away (Jacobs, Kruk and Oldeman 19).

Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to biological variation and diversity; it is used to describe all plant and animal species living in a particular area and their complex interactions with each other and with the natural environment. With rainforests having more than 50% of the world species today, they have the most biodiverse nature on earth. People today do not understand just how much we depend on the rainforests, but it is estimated that in next 30 to 50 years rainforests will vanish if the current rate of losing at least 40 species a day continues (Gaston and John 1)

The green house effect of rainforests; with growing industrialization and urbanization, greenhouse gasses increase in the atmosphere and this is likely to increase the harsh environmental conditions man is exposed to. Tropical rainforests however play a major role in reducing this; they absorb carbon from the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis; however, when the forests are destroyed then large amounts of carbon dioxide which is the main green house gas are released into the atmosphere which increases global warming (Horcan 1)

Water shed

Forests play a vital role in controlling rainfall run-off into water bodies, they absorb or hold rainwater up to 95% in forested areas and release small amounts at a time, and this maintains water bodies throughout the year even in the dry seasons, this clean water throughout protects myriad creatures that depend on water for their survival. When forests are cut however, there is no absorption of rainwater, this leads to increased runoff that leads to massive flooding, siltation, and soil erosion along water ways and this causes the water to be muddy suffocating myriad creatures (Hance 4)

Food security

It is estimated that 75,000 edible plants are found in natural forests, with modern Agriculture being so vulnerable to disease, pests and climate change, the importance of rainforests is becoming increasingly important like in south Africa in the 1920s when their sugarcane was affected by disease, a forest wild sugarcane species came in handy to save the industry from being ruined. In Latin America, wild coffee from Ethiopian forests saved Latin Americas plantation that would have been cleared. In Peru, Chile, and Ecuador many fruit varieties like tomatoes have been developed by cross-breeding with wild fruits. Forests play a major role in maintaining the food security and the world agriculture through climate change where forests boost agriculture in any given region as they increase the rainfall amounts that favor food production. Crops originating from forests include coffee, quinine, lemons, oranges, rice, pineapples, cashew nuts, cassava, rubber bananas, eggplants, pineapples among others (Lipper 3)

Medicines

Forest plants are important sources of medicine, up to today only one percent of forest plants have been tested for medicinal value yet almost 25% of todays medicine were originally sourced from rainforests. World annual sales of plants to pharmaceutical today total up to about 20 billion dollars. Some of the drugs from forest plants include quinine, morphine, Atropine, digitoxin, physostigmine among others. The potential and importance of rainforests as source of medicine has been illustrated in such reports as the World Rainforest Report, no. 26. Having more than 50% of the words plant species in forests, we expect an array of chemicals for different functions to be discovered and derived from the rain forests (Prance 2).

Homeland for forest people

The world population today is composed of about three hundred million indigenous people, fifty million of them are said to live in forests. These people rely exclusively on forests for their survival and their daily needs and they have over time learnt to utilize forest resources sustainably. With the growing populations however many forests are in a threat of being destroyed for agriculture and food production to feed the growing population or for settlement of these populations. Some of these populations include the Incas, Mayas, and the Aztecs (Lipper 5).

Non material values

Besides the material values of forests they are associated with such values as aesthetic where they beautify the environment and serve as beautiful environments for strolling and relaxing of people around.

Decay and renewal

In the forest system, everything is utilized where materials like leaves and barks shed from trees and other plants mix with animal decay and carcass to form manure which is later broken down by fungus and bacteria in soil improving soil nutrients that are absorbed through the roots of trees and later serve as food for plants and animals.

Causes of deforestation

Besides the many values associated with forests, deforestation is still high, some of the driving forces to deforestation include; overpopulation where with the growing number of people, more land is required for their settlement and agriculture. Corruption is another cause of deforestation where besides the tight laws and regulations, some people still manage to gain access to forests and cut trees. Inequitable distribution of resources and poverty in particular attracts some communities to invade forests and cut trees as a means of getting resources for their livelihood. Urbanization and industrialization have also played a major role in deforestation where some industries like the paper factories use wood directly from forests to make paper. Towns and cities are also expanding today to accommodate more people and they sometimes end up expanding into forest land (Hance 2).

Management of Rainforests

Considering the value of rainforests, it is important to come up with ways of managing their destruction, there are four main ways of harvesting trees; they include strip cutting, shelter wood cutting, selective cutting, and clear cutting. Clear cutting is one of the cheapest and fastest ways where all the trees are cut down and the remaining vegetation is burnt down. Clear cutting is done to allow regeneration of trees but it is likely to increase desertification where land once occupied by vegetation is made clear and this is likely to interfere with the weather and climate of the region and surrounding areas as discussed above. It will also increase rainwater runoff which will increase the risk of flooding and drying of rivers and other water bodies as there is no water absorbed into the soil to be released later, this will also increase the risk of myriad creatures to lose their lives. Clear cutting of trees exposes soil which may increase erosion and siltation lowering land productivity. There is also a need to protect the biodiversity of both plants and animals considering that the rate at which they are seizing is as high as it is estimated (at least 40 species are lost each day worldwide).

It is therefore important to come up with ways of regulating and limiting clear cutting of forests so as to create a sustainable society (Chiras 247).

Governments and individuals need to come up with ways of controlling the amount of clear cutting on rainforests so as to protect our environment. This can be achieved through legislation where governments make laws and policies to govern their forests; this should be associated with a fine so that people do take them more seriously. It is also important for the government to take civic education campaigns so as to make people cautious on the impacts of their acts and consequently every one becomes responsible in watching the forests and the environment in general. As population grows everyday, our forests stand a greater risk of being destroyed for settlement, agriculture and resource exploitation. There is therefore a need for the governments to come up with measures of controlling population growth.

Conclusion

World rainforests cover about 12% of the total earth surface and they contain between 50 and 90% of the total earth species, the loss of these forests is therefore highly associated with loss of biodiversity, changes in weather and climate, loss of and drying off of water bodies, increased erosion, loss of raw material for industry and pharmaceuticals, increased siltation, loss of homeland for indigenous communities among others. The most important role of forests is however to regulate rainfall and serve as a water shed for the water bodies, this protects population from not just the threat of hunger but also harsh weather conditions like global warming increased by carbon in the atmosphere that can otherwise be absorbed by the rainforests. It is therefore important to come up with measures to control and limit the clear-cutting of the rain forests.

Works Cited

Chiras D. Daniel. Environmental Science; spotlight on sustainable development. New York: Jones & Bartlett publishers, 2009.

Gaston J. Kevin and John I. Spicer. Biodiversity: an introduction, 2nd edition. New York: Wiley- Blackwell, 2004.

Hance, Jeremy. Protecting water sheds secures freshwater and saves millions of dollars. Mongabay, 2009. Web.

Horkan, Conor. Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. Goodreads Inc.2008. Web.

Lipper, Leslie. Forest degradation and food security. FAO Corporate Document Repository. 2010. Web.

Jacobs Marius, Kruk Remke, Oldeman A. A. Roelof. The Tropical rainforest: a first encounter. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1988.

Prance, Ghillean. Medicine hunting in rainforests. Reed Business Information Ltd. 1994. Web.

Introduction

The federal legal framework through the Clean Water Act and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act 103, provides for biological evaluations to be conducted as a way to determine suitability of dredged material. The appraisals included ascertaining biological consequences of various dimensions and levels of bio build-up that resulted from the presence of chemical pollutants in the sediments. The site reconnaissance conducted several tests in order to determine contamination levels at the site.

Site reconnaissance and walk-over report findings

The map provided below represented an extract from a local site slated to be the subject of a mixed commercial and residential development. While the development is a viable economic project, environmental challenges affecting the selected site complicated the whole situation. A petrol station adjacent to the site in Eastney was discovered to have LUST attributable to corrosion of the old GI petrol storage tank which caused a steady drip leakage and seepage for more than 30 years.

An assessment was conducted on the site to determine presence of contamination indicators. Past industrial activities showed that there were gas works allies within a radius of 500 metres around the site. There were also relics in form of some abandoned buildings, old structures.

Upon further investigation, the assessment found out that there were no signs of subterranean fires or land fill gas. The reviews encompassed estimation of organic effects of the scope of bio-accumulation that resulted in presence of chemical impurities in the deposits (Price et al. 2003, p.31). Sediment extracts from the site that were tested had the possibility of providing quick low cost deducible options, however they had shortcoming of not accurately reflecting pollutant availability. Bioavailability of non-polar organic pollutants in dredged materials had consequences for geo-chemical features like soot concentration (Gustaffsson, et al 1997, p. 203; Brannon et al. 1998, p. 334).

The appraisal focus depended on addition of extractants that had an effect on changes of sediment composition and geo-chemistry that was known to cause changes in bioavailability of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the sediments (Price, et al. 2003, p. 31). Soot improvement was used to alter sediment pollution bioavailability and to establish whether concomitant extractability was linked to bioavailability. Soot deposits from available facts demonstrated that availability of PAHs to exposed organisms was present. Soot absorbed non polar organic pollutants like PAHs could be more than absorbed into organic carbon.

Therefore, appraisals utilized adsorption testing, using various solvents and testing bioaccumulation of phenanthrene using two organisms to determine whether pollution and sedimentation was taking shape. Leaching tests were also conducted which were useful in risk assessment to quantify risk for ground water and surface water (Grathwohl 1990 p. 1687).

A General Overview of the Site

The site appeared quite different from other surroundings topography, available vegetation, soil type and the drainage systems. This was attributable to infill materials that were deposited as waste. Further observation showed that there were some patches of sparsely vegetated cover over the rest of the site. While some trees appeared mature and old, some appeared stunted with yellowing of leaves, premature leaf fall, dead branches and shedding of the bark.

Old trees were not regenerating their young offshoots which was an indication that there was stress. The vegetation and plants had poor spread of their roots, which had white nodules. Some of the vegetation on the site had undergone defoliation, yellowing and discoloration of their leaves. Some were experiencing wilting while others remained stunted. The leaves had yellow blotches caused by pollution.

Plant species spread was dominantly homogenous with rare diversity being registered. Herbaceous and perennial plants were missing in some regions. The soil PH was also tested and acid soil was reported to have a PH of 4.7, natural soil  PH 4.8, calcerous soil  PH, 4.9. The lake region had plant species that included orchids which thrived in high PH of 4.9, vernal sandwort that survived lead and other metals. Rushes were present in waterlogged areas while nettles thrived in areas with high nitrogen and phosphorus. There were also surface stains such as blue billy which resulted from gas works waste, black sulphide due to land fill gas deposits. There were oily patches emerging from chemicals, processing or transport industries.

Other odors were smelled that had the following characteristics: bad eggs smell indicated the presence of hydrogen and sulphide components (H2S), phenols from antiseptics, ethers from solvents and diesel or petrol. A test on the soil PH and distilled water slurry was found to be higher in some areas with bare patches of vegetations, stains and odors. Furthermore some organisms like worms were missing in some parts with bare patches.

Soil structure and compaction or waterlogging was also common. The depth of organic matter in the areas with bare patches on the surface of the soil was compared to areas with vegetations and depth of surface litter on land. There were obvious signs of contamination in form of discoloration, stains, mineral deposits, odor associated with stagnant water, green algae along the coastline. The water in the lake was cloudy suggesting that sediments existed together with clay particles. Besides, the streams leaving the site were all contaminated as compared to those entering suggesting that contamination was happening at the site.

Adsorption Testing (Materials and Methods)

Sediments were obtained from the lake adjacent to Fraser range lake using the grab sampler. The sediments were comprised of soil proportions as follows: 11% sand, 78% silt and 11% clay. The sediment had a total organic carbon content of 0.83%. The adsorption tests were also conducted in triplicate in 25 mili litres and 4 grams of centrifugal tubes or Oven Dry Weight (ODW) of deposits. It also consisted of low proportions of soot in form of diesel infiltrate. Tests were also done with 16 mili litres of condensed de-ionized PAH that encompassed phenanthrene at various concentrations. The phenanthrene solution comprised radio labeled sigma composed of 1% to 99% unlabelled phenanthrene. Sediment samples were condensed at 8000 rpm for a period of 30 minutes.

Sediment selection

The selection process relied on sediment extraction and soxhlet extraction techniques. Sediment or deposit trials were analyzed at a concentration of 10 ODW using the similar concentration ratios that were either marked or unmarked with phenanthrene. Tests were done for 24 hours and were observed under room temperature of 24 degrees centigrade. Furthermore, a typical solvent combination that comprised three quarters of methylene chloride and one quarter of acetone solution of 15 mili litres was added to each 5 grams of the sample. Furthermore, six more sonication methods were utilized to the sediment samples.

Solvent selection

The selection relied on and identified solvent responses to changes in sediment phenanthrene solutions as a function of soot concentration. An example of samples from the lake deposits were analyzed with marked as phenanthrene of 9.9 ODW and radio marked as phenanthrene of 0.1 ODW. The samples stayed for 5 days in order to age. The soot was added to one of the extracted lake deposit concentrations of 0.1 ODW.

Biological exposure tests

Burrowing organisms like lumbriculus variegates were obtained from biological lab supplies through aquatic research organisms (Hampton, N.H). The burrowing species were kept in tap water for five days. Another organism lumbriculus tentarus was fed on tetramin fish food going by recommendations by EPA (USEPA, 1999). Soot concentrations at 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 were tested. Within a five day aging period exposures were conducted in 22 mili litre glass scintillation with 7 grams of deposits from the site. Air flow and Water levels were examined under usual temperature that ranged within 21-24 degrees. The organisms that were used for experimentation were taken back after 1 week and put in a tap water volume of 1mili litre to remove sediment from intestinal tract.

Leaching tests

The leaching tests were instrumental in risk assessment to be able to quantify the risk for ground water and surface water contamination. It provided information on the potential impact of contaminants. Leaching tests were used in appraising the risks of potential pollutants. Percolation tests used were preferred because they were able to replicate the flow of water through solid material that was almost close to natural conditions. The contamination levels determined provided information on the best strategies for treatment.

Results

The tests conducted on the site showed that bioavailability and extractability of phenanthrene sediment extracts had changes in pollutant concentrations particularly in sediment bioavailability. The results showed that site was highly contaminated. The earth organisms such as lumbriculus and chironomus were used in the experiment and indicated that quantity of phenanthrene recovered by extractants were highly polluted deposits.

Many of the solvents that were used to establish usefulness for assessment of changes were conducted in bioavailability phenanthrene. Amongst the selected solvents for assessment were solvents tested against phenanthrene together with two earth organisms in deposits with soot concentration of below 0.5% The results showed that sedimentation and bioaccumulation of phenanthrene by lumbriculus and chironomus had an effect on soot concentration which increased. The discovery indicated that reproduction of organisms used in solvent extraction of sediments was appropriate in chosen extractants that were tried with polluted sediments from the field with various poisonous levels.

Recommendations

The site was discovered to be highly concentrated with contaminants suggesting that any further development on the traction of land would lead to further damage. The intended development project needed to be postponed till decontamination measures on site were complete. More developments would entrench ecosystem stress on organisms and other stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Conclusion

The report findings have assessed the effect of organic contamination on the proposed land for development. The assessments have endeavored to appraise adsorption, biological exposure tests and leaching tests. All the tests have demonstrated that the area is organically contaminated affecting underground, surface and physical vegetation. Any further development on the site would strain more eco-systems. Bioavailability of contaminants in the proposed development would be halted till environmental cleanup of the site is conducted. A further risk impact assessment is required to determine the level of reduced contamination.

References

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Grathwohl, P 1990, Influence of Organic Matter from Soils and Sediments from Various ongoing on the Absorption of Some Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydro-Carbon: Implications on Koc Correlations, Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 24, pp. 1687-1693.

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