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Biomes are distinct biological communities that have formed in response to a shared physical climate. The biome concept embraces the idea of community, of interaction among vegetation, animal populations, and soil. A biome may be defined as a major region of distinctive plant and animal groups well adapted to the physical environment of its distribution area.
Biomes are large-scale environments that are distinguished by characteristic temperature ranges and amounts of precipitation. These two variables affect the types of vegetation and animal life that can exist in those areas. Each biome is defined by climate, the same biome can occur in geographically distinct areas with similar climates. Where each biome is found and how each varies geographically. A given biome may be composed of different taxa on different continents. Continent-specific associations of species within a given biome are known as formations and often are known by different local names. The general characteristics of the regional climate and the limitations or requirements imposed upon life by specific temperature and/or precipitation patterns. A biome is formed as the result of the climate interacting with the ecological environment through a process called succession. The survival of the biome, however, is interdependent upon the climate of the entire planet with changes in distant regions sometimes impacting and changing the biome.
Robert Whitaker, an American ecologist, is credited with first dividing the world in the current 12 different biomes. He accomplished this by measuring the precipitation and temperature from points all over the planet and plotting them on a graph. Through careful study of existing biomes at those different points on earth, he was able to successfully identify the major biomes and link climate as an important contributing factor to a biome’s development. The climate in a region to a large degree determines the biome that will emerge. Knowing the average temperature and precipitation of an area will allow you to determine its biome. The Earth has 12 different biomes if you include the ocean and the polar caps as separate biomes, which some ecologists do. The other biomes are tropical seasonal forest and savanna, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, temperate deciduous forest, taiga, temperate grassland, desert, subtropical desert, woodland shrub, alpine and tundra. It is important to remember these biomes are not always fixed and within the biome various subcategories abnormalities. often arise, such as deserts appearing in grasslands. Climate plays such an important role that even just the timing of rainfall can impact a biome.
Succession is the process that forms the biome due to the interaction of climate and the ecological environment. The process of succession happens over the course of years if the climate and environment is left undisturbed. For example, if in West Virginia a coal mine is abandoned, time will allow nature to reclaim the land. First weeds and grasses will begin taking over without human intervention. Over time, the wind will bring in other seedlings and small shrubs and trees will begin cropping up. After some time larger trees will begin taking root as well. Without human intervention, eventually oak or maple trees may take over the entire area and meld with the surrounding temperate deciduous forest, which marks the biome of West Virginia and much of the eastern United States.
The United States currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy. Fossil fuels are non-renewable, they draw infinite resources that will eventually run out. It is also becoming too expensive or too environmentally damaging to retrieve. In contrast, the many types of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar energy are constantly replenished and will never run out.
Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun. Sunlight, or solar energy, can be used directly for heating and lighting homes and other buildings, for generating electricity, and for hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and industrial uses. The sun’s heat also drives the winds, whose energy is captured with wind turbines. Then, the winds and the sun’s heat cause water to evaporate. When this water vapor turns into rain or snow and flows downhill into rivers or streams, its energy can be captured using hydroelectric power.
Along with the rain and snow, sunlight causes plants to grow. The organic matter that makes up those plants is known as biomass. Biomass can be used to produce electricity, transportation fuels, or chemicals. The use of biomass for any of these purposes is called bioenergy. Not all renewable energy resources come from the sun. Geothermal energy taps the Earth’s internal heat for a variety of uses, including electric power production, and the heating and cooling of buildings. And the energy of the ocean’s tides come from the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun upon the Earth.
The pros of using a renewable form of energy is they reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Using renewable energy can reduce the use of fossil fuels, which are major sources of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Compared with fossil fuel technologies, which are typically mechanized and capital intensive, the renewable energy industry is more labor intensive. Solar panels need humans to install them; wind farms need technicians for maintenance. This means that, on average, more jobs are created for each unit of electricity generated from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. Renewable energy already supports thousands of jobs in the United States.
In 2016, the wind energy industry directly employed over 100,000 full time equivalent employees in a variety of capacities, including manufacturing, project development, construction and turbine installation, operations and maintenance, transportation and logistics, and financial, legal, and consulting services. More than 500 factories in the United States manufacture parts for wind turbines, and wind power project installations in 2016 alone represented $13.0 billion in investments. Other renewable energy technologies employ even more workers. In 2016, the solar industry employed more than 260,000 people, including jobs in solar installation, manufacturing, and sales, a 25% increase over 2015. The hydroelectric power industry employed approximately 66,000 people in 2017; the geothermal industry employed 5,800 people.
The energy infrastructure of much of the industrialized world is built to be powered by fossil fuels. According to Andy Darvill’s Science Site, nonrenewable fossil fuels provide 66 percent of the world’s electrical power, while satisfying 95 percent of our total energy needs. These include heating, transportation and electricity generation. This pre existing infrastructure makes the use of fossil fuels much easier to adopt than renewable options, which require a greater initial investment. Photovoltaic solar cells or windmills, for example, may require substantial amounts of money to install. But an existing building can draw energy from an electrical grid and current natural gas pipelines without any new equipment. Nonrenewable energy sources are also able to generate a more constant supply of power, as long as their fuel exists. Renewable energy sources may rely on irregular or less frequent conditions, such as sunlight to generate solar power or wind to turn turbines.
An issue that exists across the nation is that there is a highly exceeding amount of lead in tap water. The state of New Jersey is one example of where this lead issue is occuring. The city of Newark is changing all of its water pipes due to exceeding the federal limit 3 times in a row. This might sound like an expensive issue to fix, but it is something that has to be done and can’t be easily resolved by giving away water filters. Newark is far from the only city that has struggled to keep its drinking water free from lead. Drinking water in the United States is mostly safe, but between 2015 and 2018, about 5.5 million Americans in communities around the nation got their water from systems that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s lead action level of 15 parts per billion, according to a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The widespread presence of lead in water in certain areas points to what advocates call a serious failure to upgrade water infrastructure in recent decades.
A possible solution for this is for the federal government to declare a massive budget to the states to fund all the supplies and labor that needs to be done in order to overcome this issue. This means that almost every state would get money to fund new pipes to fix the lead problem. The idea sure sounds expensive, but the health of Americans should be put first in this matter.
Millions of Americans are currently drinking water that contains lead. A sample study has been done on a group of kids and a numerous amount of them had lead in their blood.
By 2071, nearly half of the 204 fresh water basins in the United States may not be able to meet the monthly water demand. In 1974, Congress required that this assessment of US renewable resources be published every 10 years. Conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, the research describes two causes for the projected shortages. The first is that the U.S. will simply have more people. Despite the fact that the average American is using less water, population growth is still expected to increase water demand across most of the country. Second, the water supply itself is expected to decrease. Projected climate change affects both rain patterns and temperatures. While rainfall is expected to increase in some parts of the US, the southern Great Plains and parts of the South won’t be so lucky. The water basins rely on rainfall to feed the rivers and tributaries that flow into them. Separately, more water will evaporate from reservoirs and streams as the climate gets warmer, further chipping away at the water supply. Around 50 years from now, many U.S. regions may see water supplies reduced by a third of their current size, while demand continues to increase. The water shortages may especially impact U.S. agriculture. Irrigated agriculture often accounts for around 75% of the annual consumption of water from these basins. The authors point out, though, that this also makes agriculture a clear area for reducing water use. Up to 96 fresh water basins are projected to face shortages. Reducing water use for irrigation by just 2% could prevent shortages in a third of these basins. For others, though, the reduction must be greater often over 30%.
This issue could be solved by educating the nation of the matter at hand. Doing this will help motivate new behaviors to help save water. Another way we can help preserve water is by expanding the clean water act to ensure more protections. Something the government can do is make policies and regulations to help keep the water clean and safe from harmful businesses or people causing harm. Addressing water pollution would be a big way to save drinkable water for Americans who need it across the country.
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