Citizens Who Care

Deforestation What is deforestation? Deforestation is a loss of trees due to fires, pollution, and land conversion. 46% of the world's trees have disappeared since the dawn of humanity. What efforts are being taken? Many organizations, such as the nature conservancy, buy land in critical places to protect it from being cleared. Lots of legislation is also being passed worldwide in order to prevent trees from being cut down. One thing many people don't know is that there is info available online to educate the public on how much land is being cleared. How is it affecting us? Trees and other plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen a necessary effect to produce oxygen for us to live. Without trees, we wouldn't be able to survive. I find that I need a green space to calm down, without plants, there would be none of this, and I'd be angry all the time. So, there's also a social aspect to deforestation. How is it affecting animals? Land

Ocean Acidification (Link To Next Post In Series & Series Plan Post) Written By: TGU - Blogger  First Of All, what is Ocean Acidification? Ocean Acidification is when the water absorbs the CO 2 that is released into the air. The water absorbs the  CO 2  in the air because of hydrogen ions in the water. When the  CO 2  gets absorbed into the water the water becomes more acidic, which makes it difficult for coral reefs and sea shells to build.  The ocean will probably be dead if we don't do anything about it now. Here are a couple of stories relate to Ocean Acidification.  Stanford researchers released a VR software in October, which 'teleports' the user to the future, and you are able to fully explore the ocean, seeing how the ocean will (possibly) become with what's currently happening. The software allowed the player to also see the Carbon emissions coming from the car, and it allows the user to follow it all the way to the ocean. When you get to the

By: Or Desai Have you ever heard of the Pangolin? I hadn't until recently. Pangolins look sort of like an anteater, but aren´t anywhere related to them. They have a hard shell made from keratin scales, what your fingernails are made out of. Where do they live? Pangolins live throughout Africa and Asia. There are 8 different species of them, all of which are at least vulnerable. Many of them are critically endangered. What do they eat? A pangolin eats insects like ants, but they also eat worms as well. Scientists estimate that a pangolin can at as many as 70 MILLION insects every year. Pangolins also have special muscles in their mouths which protect against attacking insects. Threats Pangolins are in severe danger, for one is poached every 5 minutes. Even though international trade is prohibited, pangolin skin is prized in many countries around the world. That is why they are the most poached mammal. A pangolin skin hung at a market alongside other endangered

Beware Biodiversity Loss Carolyn Fu Previous Post --Next Post Now I bet you’re wondering, what in the world is biodiversity loss? So, biodiversity loss is basically loss of the animals on the earth, so loss of life’s diversity. Now, losing wildlife is a big problem, especially to animals on the earth. First, what causes this problem? Read on and you’ll find out. Surprise! We humans create biodiversity loss. We fish, and when we do, we change the ecosystem and the food chains of the river. We also move animals from one place to another. For example, when a fishing boat drags their nets across the ocean floor, it picks up small critters like hermit crabs, and deposits them miles away from it’s home. Then, in it’s old home, animals eat hermit crabs, so those animals will affect other animals too. Then a bad food chain is there. Also, global warming will cause habitats and ecosystems go bad. Pollution will destroy habitats and animals. Losing habitats will lead to loss of biodiv

Next Post -- Previous Post Living in the 21st century, our world has to deal with the problems of disposing of our waste. And we are faced with that problem if disposing of our waste. According to the United States EPA, we threw out 570 billion pounds of waste in 2007, where should we put all that waste? The Truth I know this is old data, but I have to admit something. The United States accounts for only 4 percent of the world's population, but guess what? The waste from people in our country accounts for just about 30% of the world's waste. We are headed into the inevitable, we need to reduce our waste. The Great Pacific Trash Heap(s) The Great Pacific Trash Heaps are two floating islands of trash which are stationary because of the currents. You'd think it would be really easy to clean up, but it isn't. You see, there are more than 100 million tons of it there. And it gets harder and harder to clean up. Most of the trash there is plastic, which d

By: Samuel Desai Next Post - Previous Post The population on earth is growing, at about 7.5 billion and still growing , we need more natural resources every day. And we can't take these resources forever.There are many different resources we need to save. Oil Oil is one of those resources which we will lose very soon. If we continued to consume it at our current rate, our oil supply would run dry in 45 years , but our consumption rates of oil should continue to increase, lasting us about 25 more years. Consequences: Possible transition to renewable energy :) Shrinks economies like Russia's (built on oil) less transport to places Water Water is one of the most fought over resources in the modern  world. Climate Change is causing severe worldwide droughts. Only 2.5% of the worlds water is fresh. Of that 2.5%, 70% of it is locked up in glaciers. Of that amount (.75%), 10% is used for drinking. THAT ONLY LEAVES .075% of the worlds water to drink, wh