PDS APES 8th Period 2009-10

Global climate change is a touchy subject due to its recent entanglement with politics. But politics aside, we can all look at the data report from the IPCC and agree that in the last 150 years our global climate has been growing increasingly warmer. Whether this warming is cause by anthropogenic actions is another story, but erring on the side of caution, since the precautionary principle is always the safest bet, lets assume that global warming is certain and is a result to human causes. The next question is, what can we/should we do? There are two basic strategies
1) Reducing the emissions of green house gases, primarily CO2, as it is in the greatest quantity and is the greatest cause of unnatural warming.
2) Reduce CO2 already in the Atmosphere.
Strategy #1 can be achieved through a variety of different methods such as, “Cap and Trade” (with international cooperation), using LEED enginering to constuct more effienct building and machines, reducing dependancy on fossil fuels, moving to renewable energy resources, using alternative fuels for vehicles such as hydrogen, and stoping the consumption of meat. Strategy #2 involves the sequestration (caturing) of CO2 and possibly other green house gases. CO2 can be catured through either natural processes and stored in the biomass of trees and grasses or by man designed means and possibly stored in underground unmineable coal seams. Another solutions is the possibility of liquefying the CO2 and injecting it into the sea floor, but this presents the problem or raising the acidity of ocean water.

Can anyone tell me what the point of Bioremedation and Phytoremediation are, because as Mr. Willard said, “there is no away.” Aren’t we just transfering the problem of hazardous wastes from one place to another, without solving the problem?

My question isn’t one that has a definite concrete answer, but I was wonder if anyone knew why the government subsidies “high-input” industrial agriculture when our book claims that “low-input” polyculture can be done organically, with minimal pesticides, and without significant reduction in crop yields? Maybe its just the books liberal bias, but if the later were just as good, then why don’t we do it? It certainly would be more economically and environmentally sustainable.

What is the difference between a Hadley cell and a Ferrell cell? And do these different types of convection cells have anything to do with the coriolis effect?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pbKM4qxmq4c/R8rKJOapfAI/AAAAAAAADbk/lqiZN0fznUU/s400/01crabspider.jpg

An organism’s niche in its community is more that just its “job,” it is its role in relation to where it works, what it eats, where energy flows, how matter cycles, and how it interacts with other organisms. This interactions with the ecosystem, more specifically the biotic portion, is what shapes an organism’s niche. Niches typically evolve through coevolution, rather than in isolation, due to the necessity of organisms interacting in an environment. Coevolution can be categorized into two relationships: Specialization and Competition. But the types of interactions breakdown even further into subcategories. These different types of interations between species in a community are often labels using positive and negatives to distinguish the type or relationship and which parties are benefiting. Here are the types: 1)Competition (-,-) *interspecific vs intraspecific. While Competition may appear to have a clear winner and loser ecologist classify it as a lose, lose because both organisms expend energy (a negative). 2)Predation (+,-) *carnivory or herbivory. This is clearly a win lose as the loser is almost always killed and eaten by the predator. 3) Parasitism (+,-). This differs from predation in that the loser typically does not die. 4) Commensalism (+,0). Commensalism basically means that there is no established relationship. For example a prairie dog may get stepped on by an elephant and die, but there is no regular relationship between the two. And finally 5) Mutualism (+,+). Here, both organisms benefit from interacting with one another. It is also important to know the Competitive Exclusion Principle: If two species, with the same niche, coexist in the same ecosystem, then one will be excluded from the community due to intense competition. Here both species suffer (-,-). Usually the loser will migrate or die. This Principle leads to resource partitioning and realized niches.