All This Talk About the Problem, Any Solutions?

Now all of this talk with problems we have in the environment today, what are some solutions, are there even any solutions? As I stated in blog post 2, that one little piece of wrapper can cause so much damage, so start by picking up all of your trash when having a snack. You can also take a more international level and address global warming to the UN like Greta Thunberg, she is only 16!

(This is Greta, who is Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize)

I go camping along the ocean side every year and there is this nifty environmental organization, mainly targeted for kids. So I take my little siblings there for the program and I also learned something too. Did you know that sand dollars like to live in clean water? Have you ever wondered why it is hard to find them? This should be an indicator to whether the water is clean. A few years ago Massachusetts cleaned up and enforced beach clean up and prohibited littering of any kind. I heard this and was skeptical because there is always talk of that, but how often is it affective? This past year I actually ended up finding sand dollar after sand dollar and in the end we found a few handfuls of them! I took my siblings back up to the program and asked about the surplus of sand dollars and it was because the water is actually cleaning up, and the organization actually goes through the beaches and cleans them up as their routine, which is awesome!

(Woods Hole Group hosting a beach Sweep in MA)

There are also some schools that advertise beach clean up events, these cleanups also count as community service. For example, my girlfriend goes to Salve Regina in Rhode Island, and there is an organization called, Clean Ocean Access. This organization hosts a beach side clean up about every weekend.

You can also start or join a local club, for example, my school has an EAC club,  which is the Environmental Action Club. What this is a club that focuses on providing a safer and cleaner environment for future generations in Hopkinton. They recently had a big fundraiser in order to instal solar panels at our school for cleaner energy.

The biggest thing you can do is clean up litter, even though there is air pollution too, but the ocean's water can provide so much to human life too, not only beauty, but for food, medicines, and so much more. When or if you get around to it, start to do your part, if you don't, just admire what this ocean has to offer before it's not there.

How many people do you see on a daily basis smoking a cigarette, and then throw it on the ground?  Now put all of those people in a gymnasium, including the butts they throw on the ground. The amount of smoke and waste they produce is just disgusting, but that is nowhere near a gigaton. A gigaton is the equivalent to about well over 100 million African elephants... We are releasing at least 1,010 Gigatons of Carbon Dioxide annually, and it is not slowing down. 


The amount of things you can find in a river is mind boggling. I used to go diving in my local river, scooping up bottles and cans to clean it up, and I would find anything from a plastic bags to a whole bike. River diving and cleaning are becoming more common, as it is more apparent that we are trashing the planet.  


There is a teen In Waltham, Massachusetts who has a very interesting hobby. Alessio Baggio  is a junior in high school who loves to Magnet fish in the Charles River. What this is, is essentially sending a magnet into the river from a bridge, collecting litter. He has a variety of magnets in all sorts of sizes, and a few grappling hooks to send down there too. Baggio has invested over $400 in equipment for this affective hobby, he removes anything from plastic docks, tires, cans, and so much more!

(Baggio with his equipment: Picture)

Anybody can do their part to limit pollution. In October, there was a global meeting of local Leaders to pledge that they would "push aggressive measures to curb dirty air" as Curbed states. When pledging these leaders had to sign the C40 Clean Air Clean Cities Declaration.  This will not only put us on path to the World heath Organization's standards but will help decrease emissions and will impact people's overall health. The WHO's Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls air pollution, "New nicotine". he also states that roughly 100,000 Americans had died in result of air pollution, that is more than deaths from gun violence and car crashes combined. 

Cities like, Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, Portland, Washington D.C., Mexico City, Seoul, and Paris have already Signed this declarations. having these major cities sign will give a dramatic amount of progress toward the goal we are tying to achieve.

( A polluted skyline: Shutterfly)

If you are feeling passionate about making a change, there are so many little things you can do for a major outcome, you can go anywhere from picking up garbage in your river to buying an electric car to cut back on carbon pollution. In the end, what you decide to do will come back to get you, if you litter, your home will be trashed, if you clean it up now your home will still have a chance of being clean. 

We are Killing Marine Life, Without Even Realizing it.

Have you ever opened a wrapper of sorts and there's a little piece that rips off, which is too small to pick up, so you just let it blow away? That little piece of plastic can actually affect Marine biology in so many, unbelievable ways! 

Did you know that piece of plastic can get carried off to a river, flushing into an ocean, sucking up all of the oxygen in the water? if there is not enough oxygen, how will it support the life, creating a "dead zone"

(One of many Decaying Crabs in a "dead zone")

Did you also know that our pollution is also affecting the innocent coral reefs, which are beneficial to human life from beauty to medicines.

(This is a before and after coral "bleaching", which is a coral dying)

 You are probably not the only one that let a little piece of plastic drift away, with all of these collective pieces, it will all collect on top of the water, making it difficult for things to access the water. 

(A river in the Philippines overrun with plastic)  

I had recently watched a few Ted Talks and read some blog posts about Pollution. With all of the current day conversation with politics,  Global Warming, plastic straws, and other issues, I seemed to have forgotten the actual destruction we are creating. As I was doing my research, seeing all of these pictures opened my eyes again, we are destroying our planet, which we only have one of by the way. 

The amount of plastic that is being dumped is not only affecting animal life, it is also affecting us. From all of the plastic in the ocean, it will come back to us one way or another. Did you know that plastic dissolves into our water and can carry into out drinking water? These micro-plastics will build up over time, blocking your Blood- Brain Barrier, this is a mucusy 'border' that filters out particles in your bloodstream to your brain. So the plastic you dump into the water will block blood flow to your brain... How fun is that? 

(Bird Corpse with Plastic in Place of its Intestinal System)

Plastic isn't the only form of pollution that is to blame, but it is the most frequent. There is a problem with sewage waste, factory waste, fertilizers, and carbon. With all of this waste being dumped into water, elements such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon reacts and uses up all of the oxygen in water, creating an area called a "dead zone". It is exactly its name, it is a zone where the life cannot be supported and is dead. 

These Dead Zones create problems, think about your fisheries? waterfowl? How about sea growth? With certain deadzones, it creates a toxic, paint textured film on the top of the water, this is the toxins reacting with the algae, and this is an algae bloom, which is not good for you. 

(Toxic Algae bloom in Gulf of Mexico) 

There is only a growth in the waste and pollution, the only thing we can do now is individually do our part, and as clique as it sounds, recycle, pick up a piece of litter, and why not, use a metal straw instead of a plastic one! So next time you open your granola bar, or candy or whatever, remember what that one little piece of wrapper can do.

Can you Prevent Global Warming

Scientists and Environmental Experts are rising awareness on one of the running issues today, Global Warming.  The experts are now warning the public with all of the dire consequences that will happen if we do not take action. 

The amount of Carbon that is released is concerning. Jason Smerdon and Edmond Mathez, Climate scientists at Columbia university and Director of the Earth and Planetary Sciences department, claims that about nine gigatons of carbon is emitted yearly. Other sources claim that about 30 gigatons are emitted yearly!

ABC News states, since the Industrial Revolution, more that 555 gigatoons of carbon have been emitted into the atmosphere, Smerdon said, adding that scientists have determined a "climate budget" of another 100 to 150 gigatons that can be released before the Earth begins to warm more that 1.5 degrees celsius -- when we will experience more extreme weather patterns, such as severe heat.

Without the right actions taken, at this rate, we will easily blow past our "climate budget" in the next decade. 

David Suzuki's image of a smoke tower emitting pollution

 

While most individuals are aware of Global warming, either most of them do not believe or nobody will actually take initiative and do their part to make a change. What are ways that you can change out future?

                                     

                     Here are some methods Activists Suggest:

1.) Get Out and vote and raise awareness!

(Greta Thunberg Speaks at the United Nations Climate Summit on September 23 2019, in New York)

           -   Some say that it is up to the voters to put the politicians in place to make the change. If you want to raise awareness and make a move, you need to vote and raise your voice towards Issues. 

2.) Cut back on beef consumption

        It has a "monumental carbon footprint compared to any other meat" Smerdon states.

3.) Cut back on single use plastics

Image of single use plastics scattered on the ground 

      

              

4.) Install Solar panels, because it is clean energy that is not relying on a carbon based energy source