Eutrophication

Too many nutrients, algae grows, there is no light, plants die, there is oxygen depletion

The primary causes for eutrophication are anthropogenic Detergents and fertilizer
However there is the case of natural causes.
Eutrophication will cause at the end the dead of many organisms in the body water, most of the times because the lack of oxygen.
This phenomena is specially harmful in slow moving water bodies.

How do we stop it?

• Controlling the runoff from crop fields and from urban areas
• Control the amount of fertilizers used in agricultural practices
• Develop buffer zones around body water. Growing plants around them. The plants will absorb the excess of nutrients
• Set water treatments on sewage sources.
• Oxygenize the water
• Drench the sediment off the water.

Wastes, Disposal and Strategies for Control

Type of Waste	Disposal	Strategy for control
Heavy Metals	Landfills. If not properly confined the leachate may pollute soil/ground water.	Mixed with cement and additive that encloses the sludge.
Nuclear Wastes	Depends on the type of waste: -For low levels, material is compressed and buried in landfills -For inter, level it may be solidified in concrete and buried -For high level, it is placed in a container Reuse (weapons, not cost-effective; hybrid reactors)	Very difficult. Confinement is needed wastes take thousands of years to decay. An option is to deplete highly radioactive materials
Organic Wastes	Pumping wastes into deep wells. The mulch is used as fertilizer. Land —> provides biogas.	Biotech processes open / closed composting use microorganisms or worms. Aerobic / anaerobic bacteria break down organic matter. Incinerators /pyrolysis
Plastic Wastes	Landfills Incinerators. Reuse/recycling	Efficient incineration provides useful thermal energy and control of the gases released. Treatment Conversion into fuels (Polymer Energy System)
Oils and Solvents	Small amount placed in containers and put in trash, landfills Larger amounts, containers for recycling; oil –> biofuels. Incinerators	Bioprocesses –> microorganisms break down molecules into simpler compounds.

 

 

Method	Description
Landfills	Confinement of wastes into an area, covered by soil
Incineration	Wastes are burned
Recycling	Materials are changed and used in other products
Reuse	A new use is find for materials or they are reused for the same purpose.

 

 

Sustainable Yield in Deserts

Sustainability a wide spread term in the last decades. Economists, politicians, scientists and  businessmen are using it for everything. It is really a fashion nowadays. We must understand its real value and its real importance. A sustainable development is needed if we want to maintain the equilibrium of the world, respecting its carrying capacity. 
Sustainable yield is the the natural income that can be exploited each year without getting rid of the resources. Sustainable yield is different from one ecosystem to another. We’ll work with sustainable yield in deserts.
Specifications.
We must considered that resources in desert biomes are very scarce. The levels of precipitation are less than 15 cm a year. The diversity of desert’s flora is relatively low compared to other biomes. Contrary to the common belief the actual fauna of deserts is very rich and its concentrated in certain areas. The resources of deserts around the world differ from one and other. We can find oil and other fossil fuels in some deserts, minerals, and species richness.
In order to measure, and thus manage sustainable yield, we must establish space and time parameters. This will help us to know how much we have and how much we can use.
Useful indicators had been developed in order to maintain track of the advances in sustainable development. Some examples of this indicators can be found here, the Finland's sustainable development indicators:

• Human Development Index
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Total energy consumption
• Use of renewable energy sources
• Energy and natural resource consumption in relation to economic growth
• Environmental loading in ration to economic growth

It is important to notice that not just because we are respecting the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of a certain system, the resources will be endless. There are a lot of variations and factors that affect a system. A pretty good example of this is the chaotic situation of West Coast groundfish fishery in the United States, explained deeply here.
This is another thing in which indicators come handy and it’s the point where the management enters into the picture.
Links.
http://www.csgc.ucsd.edu/NEWSROOM/NEWSRELEASES/Carmel_Finley.html
http://www.ymparisto.fi/download.asp?contentid=92350&lan=en

What a CLOUD!!

Another rollin' web page shared by Mr. Mendez www.wordle.net
Enter any text: blog entry, definitions, newspaper article, an essay, and keep rollin'
Be creative and find cool uses to it.
The final result a cloud with the most used words.

Example: definitions of SUSTAINABILITY shared by the class

CLOUD:

Sustainability definition's cloud

Defining Sustainability

In simple words: sustainability is to endure. To exist for a long period of time. If you ask me, sustainability is “the responsible manage of resources that work towards using them while maintaining an equilibrium.”

Introduced in an actual context.
Sustainability is a term that has gained importance in the social world’s context because the arise of concern about the actual Eath’s natural capacity to sustain human life as it is know. That’s why the concept, in means of development, has been defined as: “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

As a social issue, sustainability enters in means of maintaining the resources for future generation. We must understand that for the world natural equilibrium to be maintained, we need to start taking greater conscience about damage we are making to the environment and how we are wearing down its sustainability. That’s why society and specific institutions are working to create policies for the regulation of the human activities that act against sustainability.

In an economic context. The concept of sustainable yield enters into the picture. It is the increase of natural capital. The natural income that can be exploited each year without getting rid of it. MSY (maximum sustainable yield) is based on this last idea.

It’s equal to
-(The total biomass or energy at a time) T1 – (total biomass of energy at a time) T
-Annual growth and recruitment – annual death and emigration.

A few points to achieving a sustainable way of living:

• To control the exploitation of natural resources.
  
• To look for alternative practices that help prevent a loss of equilibrium.
  
• Understand the entire human society structure and the economic system as part of the global environmental system

Sustainability is involved in three different spheres. Each one of the spheres functions as an individual particle, but at the same time are affected by the others.