Oregon Standoff Reflection

   Oregon Standoff Reflection

     The militia is protesting against the government for owning to much land. People from the militia group broke into the headquarters of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. They are trying to help the people of Harney County to claim back their land. The federal government controls most of the land out in the west side and farmers can't really do anything about it. Farmers are having a difficult time raising their cattle due to small amount of ownership of land. The militia believes that there is too much federal government abusing their power and limiting the farmers land and freedom. The militia are also protesting about the Oregon ranchers (The Hammonds) who are in jail for 5 years due to burning the BLM land. The militia has enough of the federal government abusing their rights, and are frustrated that the federal government is owning to much land.

     I believe that the standoff is way to much. The militia should try a different approach instead of causing massive destruction and violence. The militia can try talking to the federal government and get people involved using their words and not fists. In their "private meeting" they can talk about the differences people have and come to an agreement in the end. Sadly for the ranchers the standoff is hurting them personally. Also taxpayers are putting a lot of money into the standoff. This is causing a lot more problems to the Refuges.

The Super Market Veil Reflection

                               The Super Market Veil

     Today in class we saw a short film of how food is being genetically modified. The GMO's are made by transferring genes and their traits from one organism to the next. Some benefits of GMO technology is that it enhances nutrition, and the increase in yield. The only problem is that it can cause serious health issues.     

     Some positive consequences of the company owning the genetic information in the seed is that it helps big companies take the ownership and produce lots of it. It will provide the companies with lots of money but will make them hide things from the consumers/buyers. This is similar to downloading free music from sites because you're taking away the income of the music writer. 

     Some things that might be more effective than warning labels for food is education/knowledge. If people did their research on this type of topic they will know what they're actually eating. Maybe if health educators talk to people about the food they eat and the horrible/bad things that is in those products which can cause serious health problems. 

     

Fast Food To All Food Reflection

                               Fast Food To All Food

     Farm animals should have the same rights as us. Many farm companies are treating farm animals with disrespectful and cruelty. Farming genetically modify chickens so that they can have bigger breast and fattening meat. On the other hand having a fat chicken is only hurting the chicken itself. It's causing so much for the chicken that they can't take no more than 2-3 steps without flopping on the ground. Their skinny legs can't support their own weight. A couple of rights that farm animals could have is don't treat them un-humanly treat animals the way you want to be treated. Another right can be that let the animals grow/reproduce at their own pace. 

     The statement "In a way, we're not producing chickens, we're producing food" means that us humans are no longer producing chickens, we are abusing chickens in a way to make food. I do agree with this statement because its very true. We are treating chickens like if they are worth nothing. We are only using chickens to provide us with food and to keep our bellies full. This perspective affects the way chickens are raised because many farmers keep hundreds and hundreds of chickens in a small spaced house. In that small house there is dust roaming around, no sunlight is shinning inside and you can see lots of dead chickens just laying their. Chickens are raised very un-humanly and are treated with abuse. 

     The government and companies should come to an agreement that food animals deserve to have a certain quality of life. Chickens should be treated with respect and treat them fairly. On the other hand the price would go extremely high if companies, and the government starts taking action on the way farmers treat chickens. If companies start taking good care of chickens, chicken in general would no longer be cheap. 

     

     

     

Cornucopia Reflection

                                          Cornucopia

     In the film that we saw today it was very tragic and sad. It showed how everything is made from corn even drugs like Advil. Corn is a cheap ingredients and lots of different food producers have found many ways to use it. High-fructose corn syrup and many different "corn foods" is added as an ingredient. What people can do to be better informed about whats actually in the foods that they eat is research. With enough research they can see whats really inside a product. Keep on going back and forth seeing where the food is being produced and where its coming from. 

     Yes people do have the right to know whats in their food because what if someone is allergic to an ingredient and he/she doesn't know that there allergy is in that food product. You're buying the food product so you definitely should have the right on knowing whats being put into the food product. It's a problem that 90% of our food has corn or soy in it because we are wasting so much land just to produce corn. We could use that land for different things like building new homes for people. But nope, the governemnt wants to use lots of land just for corn. 

     It is the company's responsibility to inform us of what is in our food because the company is producing it. What's the point of making a food and not labeling the ingredients. People deserve the right to now what's in our food. People should now the true and real facts about whats in the food. 

Dollar Menu Reflection

                               Dollar Menu Reflection

      I believe that eating health should be a right and your responsibility at the same time. Everyone should have the same and equal opportunity to eat healthier regardless of the cost. But it's also your responsibility as a human being and take the opportunity on eating healthy. If you chose not to eat healthy then that will affect only you and nobody else. Take full responsibility of your actions and the way you live your life. Eating healthy should be available for everyone no matter how poor or how much money you make. 

     Our diet right now is different that the diet my grandparents had because back then near the 1900's there was lots of healthy products. People back then ate great and most foods where healthy. I mean yeah technology wasn't great and all but people still ate healthy back then. Back then it was common to see a healthy child, teenager, and adult. But now everything has changed. More and more foods have been loaded with unhealthy stuff such as: corn, sugar, salt, fat making junk that is not healthy for you. Today unhealthy food is a lot cheaper than healthy food. It's very weird because how do you expect a human being to be healthy if all of the healthy products are so expensive? Today you are seeing lots of child obesity which is affecting the economy horribly wrong. 

     I kind of eat pretty healthy but the majority of the things I eat are packaged items and microwaved food items. I don't consider myself over weight but, I don't eat healthy. I mainly stay away from vegetables but I do eat a lot of fruits. What stands the way of me and my family on eating healthy is the price. My family can't really afford vegetables and fruits but we still manage on what we can actually get. Once in a while maybe once a week my mom prepares a fruit and veggie salad but most of the time its microwaved products. If only healthy products where a lot cheaper then I would defiantly eat healthy. 

     

scrAPES 18

scrAPES 18- Greenland's Melting Ice Problem May Be Far Worse Than We Realized.
By: Lydia O'Connor
Published: 1/5/16

     This article talks about how Greenland's ice sheet is worse and is melting. Rising Global Temperatures is whats causing the Greenland's ice sheet to melt. If for some reason the entire ice sheet where to melt, then global sea levels where to rise up to 23 feet. The large amounts of melt water from the warm and summer days filled up the firn's pores and hardened into a layer of ice. Sadly melt water couldn't be absorbed by the firn making the ice sheet melt and shrink at the same time.

     The reason why I chose this article is because if the Greenland ice sheet where to melt then global sea levels can rise. I personally don't want that to happen because it will cause lots of chaos and destruction. 23 feet is a lot and if water where to rise that high then we all would be screwed.

     This article is important to environmental science because it shows how climate change is affecting a variety of things such as ice sheets melting. Maybe what we can do is stop doing all of these negative things that are affecting climate change even worse.

scrAPES 17

scrAPES 17 The LA Gas Leak Is Scarier Than We Thought
By: Maddie Stone

     A gas leaked has erupted in California LA on October 23rd. More than 83,000 metric tons of methane gas has escaped and into the atmosphere. Many citizens where forced to evacuate in the neighborhood community in Porter Ranch. The Home Energy Efficient Team is a non-profit organization that has been helping solve this case of the leaking gas. HEET has sent 2 people from Boston University Nathan Phillips and Bob Ackley of Gas Safety to go and measure the pollution in the air surrounding Porter Ranch. The methane leakage has been slowly falling and soon somewhere in February or March almost all of the methane gas will be gone.

     The reason why I chose this article is because a horrible chemical such as methane gas is affecting our atmosphere ad especially LA. It's scary to see how more than 83,000 metric tons of methane gas was leaked and can be very harmful to people. What caught my attention the most was that two professors from Boston University where sent down to LA and measure the pollution in the air.

     This article is important to environmental science because the leakage of methane gas can affect the climate and pollution. The pollution levels could of risen making global warming a lot worse. But thanks to HEET the leakage problem is now being solved and somewhere in February or March the 83,000 metric tons of methane gas will soon be gone.

Habitat Fragmentation

                      Habitat Fragmentation 

     Habitat Fragmentation is the process by which animal population decreases due to habitat loss, climate change, and building landscapes. Fragmentation can be caused by natural events such as fires, floods, natural disasters, but it's mostly caused my humans. As human activity increases in a small habitat fragmentation increases but in the end leads to devastating effects on native species, and the habitat. Habitat fragmentation interacts strongly with the components of global environmental change, invasive species, land-use, and climate change.

     What we did in class today was each person got 4 different colored cards. After each person got 4 different colored cards they where asked to "mate" and have 4 of the SAME colored cards. Sadly, two people couldn't have the same colored cards so they died. Then we built a bridge/railroad track which affected the bears because we couldn't cross over the bridge or we would die. Now our objective was to have 4 different colored cards. That was a tough one because a lot of bears died. Then we built another railroad track and if we crossed the railroad track we would die. The community spent no money on bears which sooner or later affected the population of bears and was one step closer on becoming extinct.

     Habitat fragmentation is affect our planet because day by day we are losing many different types of species. If habitat fragmentation continues we would eventually lose most of the animals which are a huge benefit to different types of ecosystems. If us humans started spending money on the animals that benefit us then habitat fragmentation wont be a problem. All it takes is money which most people can't afford. If we started funding money on saving animals then our planet would function a lot better.

scrAPES #16- Rare turtle, thought extinct, reintroduced into wild

scrAPES #16-  Rare turtle, thought extinct, reintroduced into wild
Pubished: April 13, 2015
By: Michael Casey

     A rare turtle called the Myanmar roofed turtle thought to be extinct in 2001. But suddenly Platt and U Win Ko found a single shell from a recently killed turtle at a village along the Dokhtawady River. This new finding brought the Myanmar's turtles back to life and are no longer in risk of extinction. A program started called the Turtle Surveillance Alliance which they hatched and began breeding the Myanmar turtles. Thanks to the program the Myanmar turtles are no longer extinct and there is about more than 600 turtles.

     The reason why I chose this article was because seeing an animal in the urge of extinction is not a pleasant thing to experience. The whole ecosystem needs turtles because what would happen to animals that eat the Myanmar turtles. Each year there is lots of different types of species that go extinct. Insects, bugs, animals, even plants can go extinct and the only way to stop it is by helping the species.

     This article is important to environmental science because if an animal goes extinct then it will cause a major effect to the ecosystem. The food web will now be affected because some animals rely on turtles to get their energy and to live. Thankfully to the Turtle Surveillance Alliance they saved the Myanmar turtles and there population has increased.