Precious, Precious Water

Besides being the most essential matter for life, without water, climates would change dramatically. Out of all the water in the world, only 3% of it is freshwater, the remaining 97% is obviously stored in the largest body of water in the world. So what does all that information transform to? 6 billion people in world depend on that 3% of fresh water to live. In well developed countries, the access of fresh water is not a problem, but in developing countries, conserving water is a huge part of the way of life. In some places in Mexico, some families even have to spend a large portion of their income into purchasing fresh water. People like myself, always have lived in a developed countries, in the middle class, do not feel the effect of this problem.
Referring to the geographics of the Earth, not everyone has close access to fresh water reservoirs, so the use of ground water is very common for a lot of places. Out of the total amount of fresh water on Earth, 2.15% is frozen in the glaciers, and only 0.62% in ground water aquifers. There's a small amount of ground water and people are pumping ground water. As these aquifers (saturated sediments) are being depleted, the rate of recharge is much slower than the rate of discharge. Once the water between the pores of the sediments are removed, the place at which the water used to hold will compress, making it diffcult for recharging of the sediments to occur.
So what is the water in the ground is all gone? We only use it to drink from it and besides that there's really nothing that we do with it. Many streams and rivers gets some or most of its water from ground water. As ground water gets increasingly depleted, streams and rivers that are fed but the ground water becomes dryer and dryer. Once the water tabel get below the depth of the river, the river will turn into what is called a losing stream. Meaning that any water in the river will seep into the ground to where the lowered water table is. As land and its soil become dryer and dryer, the nutrients in the soil dries up. The nutrients are then blown away by the wind, and you are left with unfertile and dusty land. This process is called desertifcation. Once this process occurrs, it is nearly impossible to restore that nutrients and the land becomes dryer and dryer, then eventually into a desert.
Without bodies of water nearby, the climate in that region becomes dry and arrid. It also becomes hotter in those areas because there is not bodies of water to buffer the temperature.
Over pumping of ground water can create irreversbile climate changes.

Importance of biodiversity

I was at work the other day, and I asked this lady, "Is there anything else I can help you with?", her response went something along the lines of how she needs her contractor work and that because of the "damn environmentalist wanting to save a snail" she could not get any work. Being an Environmental Science and Policy major with a minor in Biology, this is quite offensive and shocking. I was offended by the fact that she had such little understanding of sustainable development of animals and as well as her lack of knowledge. Now, when she said snail, coming from my field of studies, I am thinking that she is referring to the snail darter case. The interesting thing about this is that the snail darter is a fish, not a snail. If that was in fact what she was talking about, she should really do some research before coming out and saying such negative comments about protecting biodiversity. This incident encouraged me to write this blog entry, I realized that just because the environment is my field of study and not most people's, there is a lot of information that I have learned that could spread a better understanding as to why our society currently is so focused on maintaining the environment. Let's start with some basic ideas. There are many plants and animals that provide medicines to sicknesses, in fact penicillin was first discovered by experimenting with bacteria, and with that said, the point I am trying to get to is that we never know what types of plants and animals in nature can provide us with medicines to cure diseases. If we don't try to keep all these different types of organisms we will never know what they can do for us. If we wait until something to become extinct and then discover that it can provided a cure for a disease, it will be too late and the damage would not be able to be reversed. Yeah, some people might say that the Snail Darter case was silly because the fish is small and we don't really have any significant use for it, but the unknown factor plays a big role. If we don't know what it can do, then we must protect just in case. Protecting organisms for the sake of medical uses is a anthro-centric way to do about it. So what I am saying is that, even if you don't care about nature and you don't care about biodiversity, there is still a reason for you to care because these organisms may potentially save your life later on. Biodiversity and evolution go together hand in hand. Without evolution, there wouldn't be any biodiversity. How long does it take for an organism to evolve?...pewh...many, many years. If we allow an organism to become extinct, that same specie will NEVER come back, it is irreversible. Some people may not care but to me, that is a big deal. I am a strong believer in sustainable development (for those who don't know what that means, it means that future generations should have to right to have clean air, and animals, just as we have it today). It would unfair for future generation if they only way they can see what a panda bear looks like is in a text book and not in reality. Looking at the real thing and looking at a picture does not provide the same level of satisfaction. In just this past month, the black and white abalone just became listed on the endangered species list. The main reason for this is hunting by humans. As their population declines it becomes more and more difficult for them to reproduce. Female eggs and male sperms are released into the water column and they need to be within 5 feet of each other in order for them to fertilize. Next time if you see a black or white abalone, move them at least 5 feet of each other so they can reproduce.

Why older people prefer music that they did when they were young more than the music now.

ATTN: Please keep in mind that everything I am about to write about is purely thoughts and has no facts behind it.



In order to be able to enjoy your surroundings, you need time and you need to be aware of your surroundings. I find myself struggling to enjoy music of this time and I am only 21 years old, shouldn't I be loving this music? Now when I listen to music from when I was in high school, even if it is bad, i find it more enjoyable than some of the music now.
My theory to explain this is that when we are younger we have less responsibilities and when we have less obligations we have more time to do what we want. Back when I was in high school I listened to music all the time, because I had all the time in the world to sit down and do so. My current schedule does not allow me to do so, in fact it hasn't allowed me to for the past 2 years. I think as people grow older they begin to lose time to enjoy the things that are around them. Time seems to go by faster and faster every week, all because there are more and more things to do. I even find myself hoping time to pass by faster so I can enjoy my one day off of the week sooner.
After coming to the realization I feel that it is important to just step back, take a deep breath and take some time to think about what is important and possibly re-prioritizes our responsibilities. My main focus now is just to enjoy my life, enjoy what I do, even if it is something I dislike. Another option would just be to not do things you dislike, however most of the time that is not really an option that is realistic. This is a big problem with our social structure. Other people always telling you that you need have a lot of money and over-priced things. Everyone is working so hard towards being able to have money so they can do the things they want to do and mainly to enjoy life, but the process of reaching that point is so tiring and disappointing. When people are retired and they can finally do what they have been working up to, most of the time they are too old to do a lot of the things. Personally, traveling to rural parts of the world and sky-diving is what I want to do, but I can't wait until I retire to do that, my body would not be able to keep up. I must do it now, before I take on even more responsibilities and start a family.
Everyone should take some time and think about what you really want out of life and when it is that you can do it. We don't have forever to live, and our physiology is designed to be deteriorate, take action before it's too late.

Effects of climate due to Coriolis Effect

Global Atmospheric Circulation and Climate

Global atmospheric circulation is the way warm air is distributed throughout the Earth. The climate at a specific area of the Earth is directly related to the atmospheric circulation. Due to the nature of a sphere, different parts of the Earth receive different intensities of energy from the sun. At the equator the most energy is received from the sun since it is at a closer distance to the sun. The amount of energy at the tropics is more than it can emit, and on contrary, the poles emit more energy than they receive, this imbalance drives the circulation of atmosphere. In order for the heat to get transferred, the warm air rises from the tropics and then travels towards the poles and then sink down towards the ground. This single-celled circulation theory was proposed by Hadley. However, due to Earth’s rotation on a tilted axis, there are three cells: Hadley Cell, Ferrel Cell, and Polar Cell.

Hadley Cell

The Hadley Cell is located at the equator, it is also known as the tropical cell. At the equator, where the air pressure is low, warm, moist air is lifted up and carried towards the poles. Once the air reached 30° North/South of the equator, the air descends at a high pressure area (Schlanger). The warm air that descends has a huge impact on the environment at those locations. The winds that are created in this cell are called the Northeast trade winds, in the northern atmosphere and Southeast trade winds in the southern atmosphere (Molles). The warm air creates a warm environment at those regions with climate such as arid and semiarid, this is also where the largest deserts of the world are located, including the Sahara Desert. By the time the warm has arrived at the 30° location, the air is completely out of moisture, which explains why the areas at which the air descends at are such dry areas, refer to figure 3. The most common biomes at this latitude are tropical rainforest, tropical dry forest, and tropical savanna (Kalman). All three of these biomes are the warmest of all biomes, as well as the wettest of all biomes as well. When the energy from the sun reaches Earth and the warm air is released from the air as it rises, this is where the majority of the precipitation ends up which would explain why there is so much rain in these regions.

Ferrel Cell

The Ferrel Cell slightly overlaps the Hadley Cell and the Polar Cell in the mid-latitudes and brings air together from both of its neighboring cells, which is why it is also known as the Mid-latitude Cell. In the Ferrel Cell, air flows the opposite direction of the Hadley Cell. Air flows towards the poles at the surface and then flow towards the equator at higher altitudes, refer to figure two and look at the cells that are next to the Hadley Cells. This cell covers the areas that are 35° to 60° North/South of the equator. In the mid-latitude regions, there is great difference in temperature between different seasons. This is also a common area for violent storms and hurricanes to occur due to the great difference in temperature between the air coming from the tropic and air from the poles. At the 30◦ latitude mark is where the deserts are located. This is due to the fact that all the moisture in the air traveling towards the poles has been released and now there is only dry hot air left, which descends towards the surface. The desert has the least precipitation levels in the entire world, hot and cold periods can be experienced within 24 hours, there are no plants or water bodies to moderate the temperature (Kalman). As you move further towards the poles away from the desert the other types of biomes that exist within the Ferrel Cell area are temperate woodland, or chaparral, temperate grassland, and temperate forest. The temperate forests have wet winters and dry summers. Due to the hot summers, intense wildfires can occur, plants have evolved to use these wildfires for nutrient cycling (Kalman). The temperate grasslands is where the soil is most fertile, this region has wet summers and dry winters. In the temperate forest, temperatures do not vary extremely, there is lots of rainfall and the soils are fertile.

Polar Cell

At the 60◦ and above point is where the Polar Cell lies. The Polar cell is similar to the Hadley cell. Both of the cells carry warm air towards the poles. The climate at that latitude is considered to be artic and sub-artic, refer to figure 3. The biome present at this cell is tundra and boreal forest (Kalman). In this region winters are long and permafrost is common and temperatures rarely reach above 0◦C. Organisms that inhabit these environments are very much adapted to the cold. This extremely cold climate is due to the fact that very little sunlight reaches to the poles, as well as the fact that the air being circulated in this cell came from the equator and most of the heat in the air has been released earlier on.