Super Eruptions and Climate

Over the winter break I had the opportunity to go on a geology tour and visit a volcano. One of the features I witnessed, was the intrusion of dikes into the monzogranite formation of the area. Coming back to school and starting the geology unit for AP Environmental Science got me thinking about the importance of volcanoes and how they effect the environment. While they can be destructive, are there any benefits to the environment? The blog this week asks students to explore short-term and long-term benefits to the environment of volcanic eruptions.

Questions:
1. What are the characteristics of a volcanic explosion?
2. What are some of the most destructive volcanic explosions in the history of the planet?
3. What is the relationship between volcanoes and climate change throughout history?
4. What are some of the short-term and long-term benefits of a volcanic explosion to the environment? Look at climate, soil, biodiversity, and human agriculture.
5. How did the Toba super eruption effect the evolutionary history of humans?

Resource:
Mystery of the Megavolcano - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megavolcano/about.html
* Pay particular attention to the links at the bottom right of this page.
The Genographic Project - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megavolcano/about.html
* Pay particular attention to human migrations during the time period of the Toba eruption.
USGS Volcano Hazards Monitoring Program - http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/
* Pay particular attention to the Volcano Monitoring link.

Wolves in Yellowstone

Was flying to Chicago this weekend and read on the plane about this conservation group in Minnesota that was monitoring and preserving wolves. It was a good piece of luck, considering I had just showed the National Geographic movie Wolves: A Legend Returns to Yellowstone. The movie discusses the reintegration of a wolf pack into Yellowstone park and also discusses conservation management techniques and radio telemetry used to monitor the wolves. Searching blogs and discussion groups on the internet shows that it is still a topic of heated debate between local ranchers, environmentalists, park officials, and eco-tourism businesses.

1. Discuss one pro and one con of reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone from one of the following perspectives (rancher, environmentalists, park ranger, eco-tourism owner).
2. Discuss the steps environmentalists take to ensure the successful reintroduction of wolves.
3. Explain how radio telementry can be used to monitor wolves.
4. Discuss what data can be obtained from such a monitoring system.
5. What dangers to the wolves face (human, climate, predators, other wolves)?

Resources:
Track Wild Wolves - http://www.wolf.org/wolves/experience/telemsearch/vtelem/telem_intro.asp
Wolves of Yellowstone - http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wolves
Yellowstone Bearman - http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/wolves.html
Wolf Ecotourism Fact Sheet - http://www.biodiversitypartners.org/econ/report/ecotourism_fs.shtml

Overfishing

A recent NPR.org podcast reports an increase in overfishing, mainly due to the U.S. and Europe's desire to eat more fish. This got me wondering how many other countries are jumping on the "eating fish is healthier" bandwagon and contributing to the rapid decline of global fisheries. A quick search of Google News found an article summarizing a series of studies that local taboos in most developing countries have stymied overfishing of local reefs. In this light, then...

Questions:
1. List one developed country and one developing country that are to some extent contributing to the decline of global fisheries. Describe the difference between these two countries in terms of their GDP. What is their import/export of global fish stocks?
2. Describe one cultural practice in a developed country that is contributing to the decline of global fisheries and one cultural practice in a developing country that is helping to prevent the decline of global fisheries.
3. Describe two types of technology that are being used in commercial fishing and for each type of technology describe one environmental problem that arises from its use.
4. What is one legislative law that regulates global fisheries, and explain under what circumstances this law is suspended and/or reinstated.

Resources:
A Dire Prediction for the Future of Sea Life - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6469061
Local Taboos Stop Overfishing -
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20082301-16816.html
Until the Fish are All Gone -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/opinion/21mon1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Scientists Use Satellites to Track Fish - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/08/05/MN82865.DTL
Fishery Conservation and Management Act - http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/magact/mag1.html
Overfishing Presentation - http://goapes.wikispaces.com/overfishingpresentation

Greening of Golf

I was recently flying back from San Diego over the Thanksgiving holidays and came across an article on the Greening of Golf. For decades, the only concern of a golf course superintendent was to keep it green. Now superintendents are going green, using a number of techniques to prevent groundwater contamination and protect biodiversity. Watch the short video clip and check out the other resources included here. Hearing about some of the good these courses are doing for the environment made my holiday. You can also participate in building a map of green golf courses by logging into our APES Google Map.

Questions
1. Use the Internet to research the location of 3 golf courses, then geomark them on Google Maps.
2. Describe 2 common practices by golf course superintendents that could lead to soil or groundwater contamination.
3. For the practices mentioned in #2, describe 2 soil and/or water tests that should be taken regularly by golf courses to prevent soil or groundwater contamination.
4. Describe 2 health effects from groundwater contamination of excess nitrates.
5. Describe 1 negative effect golf courses have on the environment and provide 1 example of a golf course that is altering its practices in order to mitigate the negative effects of golf courses on the environment.

Resources
Greening Golf Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfUuBTu9PeA&eurl=http://goapes.blogspot.com
The Greening of Golf
http://www.delta-sky.com/2007_11/greenscene/
Greening Up Golf Courses
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=183864
Greening of the Golf Course Greens
http://www.jgpress.com/inbusiness/archives/_free/001106.html
Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP)
http://www.audubonintl.org/programs/acss/golf.htm
Green Golf Course KMZ Layer on Google Page Creator
http://tcooper66.googlepages.com/goapesingooglepagecreator

Let's Switch to Biofuels

But will it save America? It seems simple: growning plants and extracting energy from their cellulose. According to a recent article in Wired, though, its not that simple and at present relatively costly. Too costly for us to switch from oil to biofuels. Some energy companies are extracting biofuels from corn and sugarcane, but they produce only about 30% more energy than it takes to process them. This certainly isn't enough to satisfy our addiction to oil, which required about 1 billion gallons of oil a year. This weeks blog asks students to explore the issue of extracting energy from our earth's biomass.

Questions:

1. Briefly discuss 3 sources for biofuels.
2. Describe 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of using biofuels.
3. Describe the process of extracting energy from the Earth's biomass.
4. Discuss how they are using genetic engineering and directed evolution to improve the process and make it economically viable.
5. What changes would we need to make to our agricultural and industrial infrastructures in order to deploy biofuels?

Resources:
Jauan Enriquez: Why Can't We Grow Energy - Ted Talks

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/193
One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction from Oil - Wired
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-10/ff_plant?currentPage=all
Alternative Energy News - Biofules
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/biofuels/
The False Hope of Biofuels
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/30/AR2006063001480.html

Oil Spill in San Fran Bay

A container ship ran into a piling on the bay bridge and spilled its contents into the water of San Fran Bay on Wednesday. 16 beaches are closed and 60,000 gallons of oil are spreading into the bay. The report said that the oil was killing birds and causing other environmental problems. Make sure to watch the news clip on the first resource link. This doesn't seem to be the first oil spill in the bay. Take a look at the 2nd article. And, it certainly isn't the worst oil spill in our history. One of the worst in the U.S. was the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. A summary of the accident can be seen in the video on the right. You can also take an extensive look at the accident at the links below.

Questions:

1. Identify and briefly discuss 2 other large oil spills (hint: USINSK, EKOFISK) that have happened in the world.

2. How is an oil spilled cleaned up?

3. Discuss 2 long-term environmental problems that result from a large-scale oil spill?

4. Discuss one legislative and one technological fix for preventing oil spills in the future.

5. In lite of the ideas of reduce, reuse, recycle and renew, discuss how we could reduce our dependency on oil.

Resources:
Bay Oil Spill -

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=34886

Major Oil Spills Around San Fran Bay -

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_7408041

Alaska: Exxon Valdez -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKPz4y-5G-o

Exxon Valdez Spill -
http://www.loe.org/series/exxon/exxon.htm

Wildfires

I'm sure everyone has been watching the news about the wildfires in California over the past two weeks. Most of the news has discussed the horrible damage fires can cause to homes and the surrounding area, but most ecologists believe that periodic fires are helpful to the general evolution of an ecological community. In this light, I thought it would be a good idea to do a post on the benefits of wildfires.

1. Name two biological communities that experience wildfires.
2. Describe the beneficial role of fire to an ecological community?
3. Define the term succession and describe what role it plays in the evolution of an ecological community. Is fire an example of primary or secondary succession? Support your reasoning.
4. For one of the communities chosen above describe the 4 stages of ecological succession. Discuss the role (facilitation, inhibition, tolerance) of either a plant or an animal for each stage of succession.
5. Describe one fire management technique and one fire suppression technique used today by the US Forestry Service.

Resources:
California Wildfires on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr80oRpD6vI
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fire Management - http://www.fws.gov/fire/living_with_fire/
Ecological Succession on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_succession
USGS Wildfires Fact Sheet - http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3015/2006-3015.pdf
Technology Review's Mapping Wildfires - http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19324/