Monday, March 21, 2011

A Great Thirst For Water

 With our waters getting polluted at a accelerated rate, we need to conserve and clean them as good as we possibly can.

Water water everywhere, yet ironically only a small percentage of water are good for drinking. One of the biggest problem's in today's world is now water.What might seem like a small problem will turn out to be a big war against other countries for the need of water for their native people.  Big countries such as India, and China are now experiencing water crises.

India which is the largest, fastest growing country in the world is now currently lacking access to drinking water. India currently has the world’s second largest population, which is expected to overtake China’s by 2050 when it reaches a staggering 1.6 billion, putting increase strain on water resources as the number of people grows (Brooks 2007). With the economy and agricultural sector growing rapidly, it even thins out the water supply (Brooks 2007).  According to Brooks, India's water crisis is a man made problem.  For example, due to the poor management, unclear laws, government corruption, and industrial and human waste, it has caused their water supply to become useless.  A combination of sewage disposal, industrial effluents, chemicals from farm runoffs, arsenic and fluoride has rendered India’s rivers unfit for drinking, irrigation, and even industrial purposes states Brooks. Surprisingly every river in India is polluted to some degree.

China, which is currently the country that has the most population right now is undergoing a water crises.
According to the Chifeng's hydrological bureau, 62 percent of the city's 51 reservoirs have run dry, Xinhua said and more than 250,000 people are short on drinking water. Beijing's water shortage will soon reach 200 million to 300 million cubic meters, and while aggressively building more dams to conserve their water, countries below them are angry and desperate for water also. Across the country, China has spent tens of billions of dollars to dam rivers, build reservoirs and dig deeper wells. Beijing also has tapped underground water to meet its needs, with the water level in the plains falling to 11 meters to 24 meters below sea level over the past decade, according to Xinhua. Without any change, tens of millions of Chinese will turn into environmental refugees over the next decade states the World Bank.

With the water crises going on in the third world countries, there are many other countries that were not mentioned here that are also going through the water crises also. To know what India and China is going through, it's really important to start finding solutions before other countries such as Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam who are under China breaks out a war to fight for their rights for their water. The shortage of water will be one the biggest and hardest problem to fix.

Brooks, Nina. "Imminent Water Crisis in India." arlingtoninstitute. N.p., 08/2007. Web. 21 Mar 2011. <http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org/wbp/global-water-crisis/606>.

Brooks, Nina. "Water shortages reach crisis levels in China." CNN World. N.p., 09/13/2010. Web. 21 Mar 2011. <http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-13/world/china.water.crisis_1_water-shortages-water-supplies-drinking-water?_s=PM:WORLD>.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

How Does Water Get Polluted

 Water is the most essential to human beings, and with the population increasing there is a demand for water. But with more people there is also more water pollution.

Water is everywhere around us, and although it may look clean and clear, you'll be surprise to know that it maybe toxic or polluted. Water is an essential thing for human beings to have everyday, but if our lakes, drinking waters, rivers and lakes are polluted or not available for us to drink and use, it will also not be in good use for everything that depends on it too such as sea creatures, plants, soil, and many other things. So how does water get polluted?

Industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of water pollution in the United States today. In the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agricultural activity was identified as a source of pollution for 48% of stream and river water, and for 41% of lake water. According to the website Sustainable Table, most water population results from animal waste which in most industrial farms are store in large tanks call the "lagoon" that can hold up to millions of gallons of animal manure and urine. The lagoons may leak or rupture when a storm occurs, and since raw manure are 160 times more toxic than raw municipal, it'll be dangerous if it leaks into underground water states Sustainable Table. Leaking lagoons releases antibiotic residues and harmful bacteria which can make anyone who drinks the water sick or die. Another leading cause of water pollution is hydro-modification.

Hydromodification that alters the flow of water is the second leading source of damage to U.S. rivers, streams, and lakes. Examples of hydromodification are channelization, dredging, and construction of dams according to Rank. Rank states that excess sediments due to erosion caused by projects such as building dams can clog fishes gills and suffocate eggs. He goes further in details that sediments may also carry other pollutants such as mercury which can poison many living organisms that depends on the water. Next, the third leading cause of water pollution is habitat modification.

Habitat modification occurs when the vegetation along stream banks is removed, diminishing buffers that help filter runoff and provide shade for the adjacent water body states Rank. Without the vegetation that helps shade the stream banks, the water temperature are usually higher and an increase in quantity and velocity of runoff makes it harder for living organisms that lives underwater to survive. Habitat modification may also kill  many animals that may depend on their natural habitat to live and survive, and with habitat modification occurring frequently these days to better the human society, it will soon affect us too.

Here I showed you three of the leading causes of water pollution. Beside these three, there are still hundreds of ways how water can get polluted. To decrease our chances of having many water pollutions in our country and other countries, we can make a difference picking up trash that floats upon the water and shores, educate people about water pollutions, and voice your thoughts and ideas to our government.


Rank, J. "Nonpoint Source Pollution ." Pollution issues. N.p., 2011. Web. 21 Mar 2011. <http://www.pollutionissues.com/Na-Ph/Nonpoint-Source-Pollution.html>.

"Water pollution." Sustainable Table. N.p., 2011. Web. 21 Mar 2011. <http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/waterpollution/>.




Monday, March 14, 2011

Human Population Equals Shortage In Water

 With people overfishing, people are also over using water from lakes, rivers, and oceans. Without sustainable water for sea creatures to live and reproduce, humans will struggle with sea food and shortage of water.

With more people added each day in our world, it means more uses of the water that the world provides for us. With our human population increasing the underdeveloped countries are hit the hardest. Countries such as Russia, Asia, and Africa are some parts of the world where it is hard to find adequate clean water due to the increase of people, water pollution, and diseases.

For the last 50 years according to the Population Reference Bureau, world population multiplied more rapidly than ever before, and more rapidly than it is projected to grow in the future. In 1950, the world had 2.5 billion people; and in 2010, the world had about 7 billion people. By 2050, this number could rise to more than 9 billion. With our population increasing so rapidly alot of people are worried if the world has enough water for everyone especially in the countries where clean water is hard to find.

According to Calvin Woo, there are about 1,385 cubic kilometers on Earth which most of it is salt. Calvin states that about 70% of the fresh edible water are locked inside polar ice caps, and .014% are available for drinking which is a very small amount compared to our oceans. With the human population still growing strong, our water resources will soon decline if we don't conserve or try to use less of it. With other countries such as Africa with little or no clean water, they suffer tremendously that affects their health.

In Africa, about 1/3 of the population has no drinking water and almost half of the population have health problems due to unsanitary water or little water according to E-Source. Some of the health problems that may occur due to little or no water are, dehydration, malnutrition, diseases, and diarrhea which all these may cause death. If the problem does not improved, 17 countries will suffer from severe water shortage by the year 2010 states E-Source.   

In conclusion, the human population is starting to over populate and will still increase through out the decades. With so many people on earth, there are only a limited of water sources for each person to use and to survive. If there are too much people and little water, countries and people will start to fight and have wars with each other to have the water for themselves. Therefore it is important now to start conserving water and help clean our environment so it does not pollute the lakes, rivers, and oceans, and hopefully the future generations will have a chance of a better life.

"E-Source." Africa: one-third of Africans lack drinking water. N.p., 03/06/2006. Web. 12 Mar 2011.

Woo, Calvin. "How Much human life can planet earth sustain?." About my Planet. N.p., 09/23/2006.            Web. 20 Mar 2011.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Major Decline Of Fishes In The Sea

 As the Armor fishes develop over time and reproduce, we can see that humans are overfishing to the point that soon enough we will run out of food from the sea.

About the world population depends on seafood for their survival, yet sea creatures and fishes depends on us to reduce our appetite for their chance to populate. More than thousands of years ago, our ancestors had learned to fish to feed for themselves and their family. They've also taught the future generations to fish in order to live and survive. Now in the 21st century, we had gotten a lot better at fishing that we might just have declined our seafood supply.

According to Sheridan, big fishes such as tuna, cod, and groupers have declined worldwide by tho-thirds while the number of anchovies, sardines and capelin has surged in their absence, said University of British Columbia researchers (2011). Meanwhile, people around the world are fishing harder and coming up with the same or fewer numbers in their catch, indicating that humans may have maxed out the ocean's capacity to provide us with food (Sheridan 2011).

Researchers has concluded that in the past 40 years, about 54% of the population of fishes has declined tremendously, and if we keep fishing how we still are, in the next 40 years there may be no  fishes to feed the world population (Sheridan 2011). About 50% of the increase in the world's fish consumption for food comes from Eastern Asia, and about 42% of the increase is coming from China itself (Sheridan 2011). To protect us from over fishing the government has to set limits on how many a fisherman can fish, and the government is depending on scientist to figure that out.

So basically what the scientist do is they catch a few fishes and put a tag on them. Than in a week they go back to the same area and catch a few more fishes and tag them like they did the other ones. The following week they go back to the same area and observe how many fishes that they have tagged. So if there were 200 fishes and there were at least 10 that had been tagged, they'll assume that if there were another 200 fishes there would be another 10 fishes that will have tags on them.
They can then estimate that there are about four hundred fish living in that habitat according to the website

"Counting the fish in the sea."
By using up our supply of fishes, in the next 40 years or so, there will not be enough fishes for the next generation to feed for themselves and their families. Its also important to keep in mind that when there is a decline or shortage of certain fishes in the sea, it may also affect other fishes or sea creatures who depends and feed off them too. So if one species of fish disappear, many fishes and sea creatures will surely disappear afterward too.

Sheridan, Kerry. "Fewer big fish in the sea, scientists say ." dailytelegraph.com. N.p., 02/19/2011. Web. 5 May 2011. <http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/fewer-big-fish-in-the-sea-scientists-say/story-e6freuyi-1226008507172>.

"Counting the fish in the sea." www.neaq.org. New England Aquariam, 02/19/2011. Web. 5 May 2011. <http://www.neaq.org/education_and_activities/games_and_activities/activities/counting_the_fish_in_the_sea.php>.

Monday, February 14, 2011

The Evolution of Armored Fish

 Water as you can see, has been around for thousands and thousands of years. Not only do living organisms need water for their survival, but also for their transformation to adapt to their environment. For example the Armored fishes.

Armored fishes has been around for many centuries and goes way back to the Paleozoic Period. Throughout centuries, armored fishes had evolutionary transform to adapt to their environment for their need of survival due to movements and placement of the continents and changes in sea temperature. According to Freddie (2005), Most of the world was covered in water during the Paleozoic Period, and much of the shallow seas left preserved fossils for us to study the evolution of armored fishes. With the fossils left for us to observe and analyze, we can tell how armored fishes had evolved and changed throughout centuries. The first of the armored fish appeared during the Ordovician 150 million years ago states Freddie (2005). They are actually specifically named ostracoderms due to the time period in which they existed and from their physical features.

Ostracoderms as Freddie describes, has a bony plate on the outside of their cartilaginous body, and their mouth is located either on the bottom or the front of their head (2005). Some ostracoderms such as the sacabambpis does not have front fins, and like an eel, they have a rear fin in which they move in a "S" motion rather that using their fins to move (Freddie 2005). But during the Silurian period, a bony vertebrate started to appear in fishes. Fishes also started to have complicated structures such as more fins and spikes on them. They were now able to swim and have more control of their motion than swimming in a "S" motion. This evolution was due to the movements and placements of the continents in which cause them to adapt to their surroundings and environment.

During the Silurian period, a bony vertebral colum began to appear in fishes states Fredding (2005). This was when fishes started to have bones, structures, and spikes on their body. The cause of the evolution was due to the shifts of continents and salty water. Placoderms (armored fishes) which appeared during the Silurian replaced the armored fishes in the Devonian period. The  fishes had jaws which derived from gills that took on a function like a jaw (Freddie 2005). Unlike the previous armored fishes the Placoderm fishes were able to control and swim in the directions they want to.

Now compare these fishes to the fishes that the world has today. Fishes had evolved dramatically from when they existed to the year 2011. Fishes now has the ability to adapt in certain areas to survive and have better physical traits that can help them. Now the only thing that can stop these fishes from evolving to their best self, is to have their environment (sea) kill or change their genetic form.

Freddie, Arreola. "The Evolution of Armored Fish." skywalker. N.p., 01/26/2010. Web. 5 May 2011. <http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/students/armored-fish/armored-fish.htm>.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Circle Of Life

Everything relies on each other for most to survive whether its a living or non-living organism. Whether it's the sun, plants, animals, water, or human beings, we all depend on each other for our existence and life here on Earth. Like the circle of life, to balance things out, we must need food and water for survival, whereas our food, such as cows and pigs needs plants and water for their survival. This creates what we call a food chain.The food chain consist of producers, herbivores, carnivores, decomposers, then back to producers.

According to Cunningham (2010), producers are organisms that photosynthesize, mainly green plants and algae. Producers such as green plants are very important and are highly needed by the herbivores for survival. Some of the Herbivores who depends on producers are animals such as horses, cows, and pandas. Herbivores are plant eaters (Cunningham 2010). With herbivores depending on plants and algae, carnivores depends on herbivores for their survival.

Carnivores are predators which eat and hunt other animals (NatureWorks 2010). A short list of carnivores are tigers, lions, and sharks.While many would think a human being is a carnivore they are consider as an omnivore along with many other creatures and animals like bats, bears, and cougars. Omnivores eat both plant and animal matter (Cunningham 2010). Where there is a beginning and life, there comes an ending and death. So with herbivores and carnivores, when they no longer live, they will decompose on the Earth's ground and enrich the soil in which becomes producers. 

In conclusion, producers, herbivores, carnivores, and decomposers all depend and revolve around each other for survival. When one dies, the other lives, and therefore creates the circle of life.

Cunningham, William P., and Mary Ann Cunningham. Environmental Science. 11. New York: The McGraw-Hill, 2010. 62-63. Print.

"NatureWorks." Carnivores. New Hampshire Public Television, 2010. Web. 7 Feb 2011. <http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep10a.htm>.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Water Shortage Alert

Water is one of the most essential things to our ever day life which includes our survival on this planet. It gives us what we need to clean ourselves, quench our thirst, grow our foods, and many other uses that benefits us. Water has always been good for us, and in return we take advantage by over using the source, polluting our lakes, rivers, and oceans with garbage, waste, and harmful chemicals.

In many overpopulated countries such as China, there are barely enough water for everyone to use. According to the Chinese Statistical Yearbook 2007, Beijing consumes more water annually than its water resources combined. With water decreasing within the last ten years, fishes are unable to swim upstream, therefore creating food shortages of fishes states Daniel Enking.

With no where to put our sewage, waste and left over chemicals from factories, it all goes out to the rivers, lakes, and oceans. With the pollutions that comes from us, we are hurting animals, plants, and ourselves who are depending on water for our survival.

Enking, Daniel. "China grows thirstier." globalpost. N.p., 01/26/2010. Web. 5 May 2011. <http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/study-abroad/100114/china-water-shortage>.