Environmental Science

5. Tropical forests represent a large reservoir of underutilized timber. Why is it ecologically unsound to harvest most tropical forests? What are the potential long-term effects of deforestation in the tropics?
Harvesting our Earth’s tropical forests is very ecologically unsound in many ways. These forests are being harvested and clear-cut in staggering rates and even if we begin taking necessary actions as a whole, worldwide, immediately we still may never get these forests back to where they should be in order to become sustainable once again.
The most commonly known effect that harvesting the rainforests has had is the extinction of the majority of the world’s species. The tropical forests contain about half to two-thirds of the world’s species. (Chiras, P. 230) An average of 137 species of life forms are driven into extinction every day in the world's tropical rainforests. Destruction such as harvesting in rainforests have contributed to the loss of millions of acres of tropical rainforest. Animals and people alike lose their homes when trees are cut down therefore, most animals and other species die when trees are cut down. Larger mammals need several acres to be able to roam free and are trapped into smaller living conditions and several other species are only known to be living in one region and will not survive once their habitat has been harvested.
Other animals that may not be native to these tropical areas also suffer when forests are destroyed. One example is in the winter when birds fly south for the winter. Birds from North America fly to tropical regions and return to the same location year after year however, many go to return only they are unable to find their temporary home because it has been cut down and destroyed therefore die trying.
The presence of vegetation provides a protective cover over the soil. Through the nutrient cycle, vegetation helps to maintain the soil fertility. When it rains, nutrients enter the soil. Plant roots absorb the dissolved nutrients from the soil. When leaves fall, small organisms such as worms and insects break down the leaves as they decompose and this returns the nutrients to the soil. (library.thinkquest.org) However, when deforestation occurs, a loss of a protective cover for the soil happens. With deforestation, there will be a higher rate surface runoff and which results in a higher rate of soil erosion and soil leaching. In soil erosion, the topsoil is being removed or washed away by the higher surface runoff. Soil leaching, a process by which nutrients are washed deeper into the soil, causes the top soil to become increasing infertile over time, This, through soil erosion and soil leaching, the soil in the deforested area gradually loses its fertility. Animals have poor nutrients and limited amounts of food to graze off of and eventually the animals will die. Also, when soil erodes there becomes more surface run off and rivers will begin to flood causing more harm to all species including plant life and higher bacteria in the water, which will effect human consumption and can cause major illnesses.
The trees in the rainforests play a major part in the photosynthesis process. In order to maintain healthy oxygen levels for our planet we rely on all plants and trees for this process to occur. Humans and animals release carbon dioxide and water, which is released into the air and taken in by plants and then released back out from them into fresh oxygen and glucose to be recycled yet again into human consumption. Plants and trees also take in the carbon that is released into the atmosphere from cars, factories and other fossil fuel burning sources.
With the majority of trees being forested every day the carbon levels are rising at staggering rates because the plants are not there to take it in to be turned back into oxygen fast enough. With the high amounts of carbon, which is hot, the Earth’s temperature is continuously rising. The rising temperature is causing ice caps to melt, sea levels to rise, animals such as the polar bears are unable to survive, and a rise in major tropical storms to occur.

29. Discuss all the agencies who failed in the Libby, Montana asbestos disaster. Discuss why each agency/business failed to respond to the dangers of asbestos exposure. What can be done to prevent further such disasters? 

The town of Libby, Montana was failed by W.R. Grace & Company for certain, but other agencies and people were to blame as well. Initially, Grace probably did not know that the insulating material they had mined in Libby was contaminated with asbestos, a mineral found in materials such as building materials that contains carcinogens (OSHA). Asbestos has been linked to many lung diseases especially pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma (Peacock 75).
In her book, Andrea Peacock estimates that more than 35 million buildings in the United States had been insulated with the contaminated asbestos building material. Millions of people had been exposed to the deadly mineral. The owners did learn about the contamination that was occurring, but did nothing about it. They continued to sell the deadly building material and contaminate their workers just referring to the lethal dust as a “nuisance dust” (Peacock 78).
The workers were then going home to their families and exposing them to asbestos. In the 1940's, Grace began to recognize a problem when they were urged to provide dust control equipment and began installing a fan to vent the indoor facilities. This did not help the outside workers who were still being exposed and now to an even more dangerous form of asbestos (Peacock 83). It had even been discovered that the amount of dust being released at the mine was 13 times the industry safe level, yet Grace did nothing about it (Peacock 82).

Insurance companies practiced negligence in this disaster. Instead of settling workmen's compensation claims the companies told Grace to settle the claims with former and current employees. This ensured the companies could avoid multi- million dollar lawsuits. The insurance agencies encouraged Grace to keep ill employees on the payroll and put them in different positions avoiding workmen's compensation claims. Men judged to be sick working at the plant were put into less hazardous jobs, not for their protection but to keep them working at the mine. If they kept the workers from being exposed to more asbestos dust, than they could avoid the costs of disability and the workers would eventually retire (Peacock 87).

The state of Montana was also to blame for failing to respond to the asbestos exposure. State agencies were actually aware of what was going on and how dangerous the conditions at the factory were. They had cited Grace multiple times for unsafe working conditions, but they did not shut the company down. 
The EPA had some fault in the disaster that occurred in Libby, Montana. While the air quality was being tested at the factory, it was overlooked that it was not at safe enough levels for the workers to be breathing in. There were discrepancies between the results and they never noticed them (Peacock). 

In the future, we need to prevent disasters like the asbestos exposure in Libby, Montana. State agencies need to make sure they close down any dangerous facility. I think we should have multiple agencies checking up on factories like the one in Libby. Hopefully, now with OSHA and other safety guidelines established for workplaces, disasters like this never happen again. Overall, I believe this disaster to be a result of human error and greed.
21. What can you do at home to reduce your environmental impact? What have you done personally to minimize your environmental impact or to restore the environment? Do you actively discuss environmental issues with your friends? Do you think you can have an impact? Is the content of this course relevant to your life? Each and every individual has several opportunities to reduce their environmental impact on our planet, more now than ever. In recent years individual state governments and our federal government have created new, innovative and easy ways to reduce our impact and reduce our use. As a concerned individual for our future generations I try my hardest to reduce my footprint in many ways. I currently drive a newer model Honda Civic, though it is not a hybrid model it gets a combined EPA of 29 MPG and is a ultra low emissions vehicle which under California law in order to be considered a ULEV vehicle it must emit 50% less emissions than the average for new cars released in that models year. Energy-efficient vehicles are vital to building a sustainable future (Chiras, P.320). I also attempt to drive as little as possible for example: on nice afternoons I may ride my bike to the store or to a relative or friend’s house, running to the gym instead of driving there and running on the treadmill before a workout, and making fewer trips by stopping at places on my way home or school instead of putting it off for later. Although I live in an apartment and recycling is not an option in my apartment community I keep a bag of items to can be recycled and bring it to my sister’s house when I visit her. My bottles and cans that may be deposited for money are given to my nephew in order for him to save up for items that he wants and currently for his Washington D.C. trip in the spring of 2014. When shopping at the grocery store I try to buy only plastics 1 and 2 so that they may be recycled and not thrown in the trash. Although this isn’t always possible as my yogurt containers are of a different number, I believe I have still increased to the 1’s and 2’s over any other numbered plastic. I keep reusable grocery bags in my car at all times so they are easily accessed when I am at the store and only use plastic bags for meats and eggs which could transport bad bacteria’s onto the reusable cloth and contaminate future foods.
It is very important to be aware of the products being purchased and try to shop wisely. If recycled products are available such as notebooks or plastic containers I opt for those as long as they are affordable. When purchasing Christmas cards, the last two years I have bought recycled cards printed with soy ink. When shopping for furniture I try to buy used first, if unavailable in at I need just to be aware of the materials that are used in the products to ensure it does not contain any unsustainable woods. I always try to rent textbooks or buy used and ensure to sell back when possible so less are printed in the future. I do not enjoy reading books off of any electronic devices so I always try to buy the books I want at a local used bookstore instead of new as well.
Using energy efficient lighting such an approved energy star light bulbs in my home are very important. Although my complex pays my electric and I do not save money I am aware of the environmental impact that switching over has helped. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a light bulb that's earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars (energystar.gov). So, imagine what the impact would be if ALL bulbs in our homes were switched over to energy star.
Many people still have the mentality that they as one person cannot make an impact. I suppose it is the same as when people think only one vote for an election does not count, so very WRONG! If each person changes one bulb to energy star, makes less trips via vehicle to the store, purchases only a few organic products, buys a used book instead of a new copy it all adds up to a lot of change with very little change in a persons lifestyle. Although I get lectured at all the time about how global warming is a hoax or how my recycling doesn’t impact that much, I still continue to do so as much as possible. I do have many discussions and many times, debates with friends and people I know about our impact on Earth. Some of my friends and family have altered their decisions because of this and others may never will but for them I just make smarter decisions for myself to maybe offset a bit of their poor decision making.

I have found the text and field trips in this course very informative and they have educated me further on our environment. Although I would have liked to have spent less time discussing Peacock and more time on current issues and on the text I enjoyed this class and it has been relevant to my life and those surrounding me in my personal life.

17. Why is recycling often cheaper than continuing to use more natural resources? What impacts are recycling expected to have on the environment? Give some local examples of recycling? Recycling refers to the return of materials to manufacturers, where they can be melted down or chopped up, refashioned into the original finished material, and then incorporated into products. Recycling conserves resources, alleviates, future resource shortages, reduces energy demand, cuts pollution, saves water, and decreases solid waste disposal and incineration (Chiras, P. 538). Recycling creates jobs, which helps our economy in trying times. When 10,000 tons of waste is thrown into the trash and hauled off to a local landfill it on average creates 6 jobs whereas, if 10,000 tons of trash is recycled it creates 36 jobs (all-recycling-facts.com). In turn, 30 more jobs are created and these jobs in the recycling field are typically higher paying than that at a landfill and higher than the national average. The job of a sorter at a recycling plant is usually given to those who are in need of a basic skill or those with lower education levels. Creating more jobs in these areas are necessary to save our government money on unemployment rates and help our economy. Recycling saves a lot of money by processing these materials into new, recycled goods compared to producing new products from scratch. The savings in recycling is amazing! The average in energy savings for recycling aluminum is 96%, glass 21%, plastic bottles, 76%, and newsprint 45%. Added up recycling uses approximately 10.4 millions Btu and hauling and processing these recycled materials is about .9 million Btu compare that to disposing of these materials into landfills and creating brand new goods which uses 23.3 million Btu. The savings in energy for our government is astonishing. Recycling materials as opposed to sending them to a local landfill also saves tax-payers and the government money by not having to create and build new landfills as fast. A typical landfill costs approximately $20 million to build not including the millions of dollars to operate these facilities each year. As you can see, the less we throw in the trash and the more that is thrown into a recycling bin to become reused once again, tax-payers are saving space in their landfills and not having to build a new one as quickly. Recycling centers are a business, they create more jobs and make a profit whereas landfills do not create as many jobs and just use up tax money. To summarize: Recycling saves energy, creates jobs which in turn stimulates the economy, saves money on processing and building landfills by reducing waste, and it also reduces oil consumption by not producing goods from scratch. Locally in Scott County the recycling center is run by Waste Commission of Scott County. Local residences have access to curbside pickup of recycled goods that either get picked up by their city either weekly or monthly, depending on which city they reside. Though recycling is not enforced it is strongly encouraged as the cities pay the recycling center fees for the drop-off of these materials. Most cities make up that fee by charging residences a fee for the pick-up of their trash. If one does not live in a residence where pick-up is available or if a business would like to recycle any goods there are five locations for drop–off recycling in Scott County. Items such as motor oil, oil filters, tires, e-waste and anti-freeze are also available to be recycled at these facilities. However there is a 25- gallon limit per month per household on motor oil so if it exceeds 25 gallons, motor oil may be disposed of at the Scott County Landfill. 10. Describe modern wastewater treatment methods. What are the environmental issues associated with wastewater management? What things can the average citizen do to minimize their environmental impacts? Today, modern wastewater treatment is very advanced. Locally, our plant is very technologically advanced, because it provides clean water for all the major cities in our area. Unlike most businesses, wastewater treatment plants do not have any days off; not even Sundays nor holidays. Without someone running the plant, we would not receive our clean water. The men and women working at the plant are blessed for providing us with healthy clean water that allows us to live plentiful lives. As the water arrives in the wet well of the plant, through a ninety-six inch pipe, it needs to me screened for preliminary treatment. During screening, removal of solids is processed. After the solids are removed, the water is transported to the primary tank that can contain almost a million and a half gallons of water. In this tank is where the process of settlement begins; which can take from two to six hours, depending on the flow rate. During settlement, solids sink to the bottom of the con-shaped tank, and grease and oil float to the top where they can be skimmed off. About 65% of organic materials is removed in this stage. (Water) From the primary tank, the flow moves to the activated sludge area. The activated sludge area consists of eight rectangular tanks that hold seven-hundred and fifty thousand gallons each. In these tanks, oxygen is provided; the oxygen allows the bacteria life forms to flourish and carry on life functions at an accelerated rate. In less than five hours, they consume the pollutants, reproduce, and generate a waste by-product of their own. (Water) The wastewater flows on to four clarifier tanks. It takes about four and a half hours for the sludge to be removed from the wastewater and deposited back into the aeration tanks. The clean treated water is then flown back into the Mississippi River. At our wastewater treatment plant, they are very concerned with the environment, and act upon it well in many ways. They generate their own power, and are often refunded and reimbursed payments from the energy company. The pipes used to run water into, around, and from the plant are built so that gravity can force the movement, and minimal energy is needed from pumps. During the clarification process, the wastewater plant uses bacteria to remove the solids in the water. Also, there are a few environmental issues with a wastewater management plant. Sometimes, either small and evil products or large objects are sent through the water system, which can complicate the process. Our guide at the plant explained that one time the rake was jammed, and it took quite some struggling to get it loose. When he broke it loose, he was surprised to discover about fifty pounds of rope entangled in it. Another common example he gave was, when females disperse their monthly products down the toilet. When tampons reach the plant, their string can get entangled in the process and either burn up or break axles. The average citizen can do a lot to help with the clarification process of water treatment. To start, they can refrain from send solids like rope, tampons, and other objects down the drain. Someone may never contemplate where these objects go. Truthfully, it ends up nowhere, but somewhere in the process creating complications. Also, people can cease from pouring unsafe chemicals down the drain. Paint, pesticides, motor oil, and other chemicals are unsafe and pollute our water. If everyone took the initiative of caring for the environment, it would be a much easier planet to live on.

2. Discuss Peacock’s perspective concerning the value of wilderness and our role as a species. Does Peacock’s perspective have its origins in modernity?
Doug Peacock explains his wildlife experiences in his book The Grizzly Years. He is an active environmentalist that fights to protect the wild. He is a mentally damaged veteran from Vietnam that can only find peace and happiness in the wild. (Peacock) Peacock believes that the human species absolutely has to consider the lives of other living organisms. We have to care and have concern for all other living things. Humans are the most environmentally destructive species on the planet. Our population drastically grows by the day, and our communities expand into untouched nature. Humans need to take a conservative perspective on nature and touch only the necessities. We need to stop destroying nature for more housing and industrial establishments. We are burning up our natural resources at an increasingly fast rate, and the resources are already scarce enough as it is. In the modern day, Peacocks perspective only exists among a select few individuals. Businesses are too industrialized to care for the environment. All anyone is worried about nowadays is the maximum revenue they can receive. Humans believe that they can act upon anything however they wish, without consequences. We have to educate more people on the environmental issues that are occurring in modern day, and convince them to act positively upon them to prevent future disasters.

23. What is Peacock’s War? Has Peacock been successful in his efforts? Why is his story so significant and relevant to understanding the concept of wilderness (i.e. why is Peacock important?)? Why are wild areas/wilderness important in our lives? Peacock’s war is a continuing battle of preservation and protection of the wilderness. He argues that humans should keep the wilderness “natural.” There are many environmentalists out there, but some Peacock thinks do it for social acceptability, as shown in an article by Jack Turner. “The restoration of wilderness is a fad that, for many reasons, I do not believe will work. But we can restore our relation to wildness, for "wild" names the quality of a relationship, one in which we are not in control.” (Turner) He was a veteran of Vietnam and was seriously mentally damaged. He resides as an environmentalist premising to educate people on the importance of the wild. Peacock has written important books and writings on the wilderness, like The Grizzly Years. These writings are inspirational and effective on teaching people about the importance on protecting the wilderness, because he actively participates in it. He is not only researching and reporting, but he is actually living it. Peacock has caught some of the rarest filming on grizzlies in their natural habitat. What I find amazing is that he does not believe in the use of the modern technology like radio trackers, GPS, and spotting from planes. He simply does it the natural way like the Native Americans. The wilderness is extremely important to the human race, and we should act upon to preserve and protect it. Human population is growing at an increasing rate. As our communities expand, we are pushing wildlife further away. As we push the species away, they tend to either have to adapt to a new ecosystem or near the brink of extinction. For every species that is depleted, there lies a consequence. The food web is based on an ecological balance; the absence of an extinct species could affect the whole web drastically.

Work Cited
Chiras, Daniel D. Environmental Science. Eight Edition. Boston: Jones and Bartlett. 2010. Print.
Peacock, Andrea. Wasting Libby: The True Story of How the WR Grace Corporation Left a Montana Town to Die ( and Got Away with it). New York: AR Press.2010.
Peacock, Doug. Grizzly Years. New York: Owl Books. 1990
Water Pollution Control Plant City of Davenport, Iowa. City of Davenport. 2007.
"Impact of Deforestation on Soils." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.
"Safety and Health Topics | Asbestos." Safety and Health Topics | Asbestos. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.
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"Recycling Benefits to the Economy." Recycling Benefits to the Economy. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.