Head Counter Essay

One of the most influential discoveries in recorded history was the Haber-Bosch Process, a process that allows scientists to take nitrogen from the air and turn it into usable nitrogen in the soil for plants. Since the wide-scale implementation of the Haber-Bosch process, more than half of the worlds population has come to rely on crops grown with the Haber-Bosch process. This has allowed the human population to explode as we circumvent the nitrogen cycle. The process has "altered the global nitrogen cycle so fundamentally that the nearest suggested geological comparison refers to events about 2.5 billion years ago." The Haber-Bosch process is extremely important because it was the first processes developed that allowed people to mass-produce plant fertilizers due to the production of ammonia. It was also one of the first industrial processes developed to use high pressure to create a chemical reaction. This made it possible for farmers to grow more food, which in turn made it possible for agriculture to support a larger population. Many consider the Haber-Bosch process to be responsible for the Earth's current population explosion as "approximately half of the protein in today's humans originated with nitrogen fixed through the Haber-Bosch process." In my opinion, The Haber process has had a positive impact on the environment, because it  provides the nitrogen fertilizer that helps feed the world.

On the curse side we have several issues including:

• Serious imbalances to the nitrogen cycle.
• High fossil fuel energy inputs.
• Negative effects on soil organisms and soil organic matter.
• Excess runoff cause ocean dead zones.
• Major component of weapons including all those roadside bombs.

Nitrogen, a key component of all proteins, DNA, and RNA, is vital to life here. Plants can only use fixed nitrogen and the lack of fixed nitrogen is often the limiting factor in an ecosystem or for crops. Our ability to fix nitrogen ourselves seemed to be a perfect solution. However, the enormous blessings of the Haber Process are balanced by some pretty serious curses.

On the blessing side synthetic nitrogen fertilizer produced by the Haber Process is credited with feeding a third to half the present world population. In fact about half the nitrogen in each of our bodies is there thanks to the Haber Process.

Tar Sands.

1. We should extract tar sands first because they are more energy efficient.
2. The oil shale process involves drilling heater holes 1,000 to 2,000 feet down where they heat oil barring shale to very high temperatures. Tar sands are heated with hot water or steam to extract bitumen, which is heavy thick oil.
3. Tar sands are more efficient due to their better EROI.
4. Offshore drilling leads to lower carbon emissions overall.
5. I grab the first pen I see in my book bag, being that I don't want to have to dig for another one.

Topic 1: Public Health

• Antibiotics are one type of antimicrobial.
• Antimicrobials are substances that kill bacteria or suppress their multiplication or growth, and include antibiotics, some minerals, metals, and synthetic agents.
• The threat from antimicrobial resistance became more
  

  apparent in the 1990s as the number of cases of drugresistant

  infections increased in humans.
• ifap not only causes concerns about the health of theanimals present, but the basic production model creates
  concerns with respect to human health, as well.

"New public health concerns surrounding farm animals include foodborne diseases caused by bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella, and have a major impact in the United States. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) estimates 5,000 deaths and 76 million cases of food borne illness annually. The FDA reports that bacterial food borne disease is a growing problem worldwide and has been addressed in many reviews and reports on the topic.  Other pathogens that are of grave concern include avian influenza and mad cow disease.
There are also public health concerns surrounding animal hormones. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says there is a potential for natural and synthetic steroid hormones (e.g. estrogens, androgens, progestins) found in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) waste to reach groundwater aquifers and surface waters through a multitude of pathways (e.g. surface runoff, leaching from holding tanks and lagoons and composting facilities). Scientists say the occurrence of hormonally-active agents in surface water is of increasing concern worldwide, and has led to a growing awareness that human and wildlife health might be negatively impacted by hormones in the environment.
These and other public health concerns may stem from industrial animal production systems, which with some producers include the use of antibiotics as growth promoters. The FDA says the emergence of antimicrobial resistant and multi-drug resistant bacteria are evident in both humans and animals."


To fix these problems, we can stop using chemicals on animals and allow them to live in a cleaner environment.
http://www.ncifap.org/issues/public_health/

All About The Gnu AKA Wildebeest.

"The ungainly gnu earned the Afrikaans name wildebeest, or "wild beast," for the menacing appearance presented by its large head, shaggy mane, pointed beard, and sharp, curved horns. In fact, the wildebeest is better described as a reliable source of food for the truly menacing predators of the African savanna: lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, and hyenas.
The gnu (pronounced "g-new" or simply "new") is a member of the antelope family, although its heavy build and disproportionately large forequarters make it look more bovine. Gnus can reach 8 feet (2.4 meters) in length, stand 4.5 feet (1.4 meters) tall at the shoulders and weigh up to 600 pounds (272 kilograms). Both males and females grow horns.
Their habitat comprises the grassy plains and open woodlands of central, southern, and eastern Africa, particularly the Serengeti in Tanzania and Kenya. They travel in large herds and are active day and night, grazing constantly.
Their spectacular northward migration in search of greener pastures is dictated by weather patterns, but usually takes place in May or June. It is considered one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth, involving up to 1.5 million wildebeests as well as hundreds of thousands of other animals, including zebra and gazelle.
Up to 500,000 calves are born in February and March each year, at the beginning of the rainy season. Calves learn to walk within minutes of birth and within days are able to keep up with the herd. Gnus can live to be 20 years old."


Kienne, John M. "Wildebeests." National Geographic. NationalGeo, 23 Apr. 2007. Web. 1 Nov. 2015

How I Impact The Carbon Cycle.

Humans affect the carbon cycle through the exhalation of carbon dioxide, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other poor agricultural practices. Burning fossil fuels and deforestation leads to a disruption in the balance of the carbon cycle

Science on Seneca.

Research Question: How does temperature in certain areas affect the population of organisms living in that area?


Controlled Variable: Temperature.
IV: A few different locations on the lake.
RV: Carbon dioxide, Ph levels, and dissolved oxygen.
Hypothesis: I believe that the population of sea animals will gravitate more towards the warmer climates than the cooler ones.
Method: Find the area of water with the highest temperature to see if that area holds the most levels of Ph. Then count the population in that area. Move towards the cooler areas, take the Ph levels there and count the amount of animals in that area as well.
Procedure:
1. Find at least three different locations in the lake with different temperatures.
2. Find the temperatures and record them.
3. Record the levels of Ph after finding the temperature.
4. Count the amount of organisms living in that certain area and record them.
5. Tally up each of the amount of organisms for each area and see who has the most in the end.


"Changes in temperature affect aquatic life. Temperature determines which organisms will thrive and which will diminish in numbers and size. For each organism there is a thermal death point. Also there is a range of temperature of that produces optimal abundance. The effects of temperature upon life of a cold blooded or poikilotherm are profound. Poikilothermic animals, such as fish, are those whose body temperatures follow closely the temperature of their medium.
These animals have coped with temperature problems in different ways. Not only the organism survival, but growth and reproduction of each organism have critical temperature ranges. Each organism must be favored by the proper temperature if the individual or its population are going to survive. For instance, temperature influences enzymatic reactions through hormonal and nervous control to digestion, from respiration and osmoregulation to all aspects of an organism’s performance and behavior.
High and low temperatures that are lethal to individual organism of a species determines the distribution and abundance it’s populations. However, more often the distribution and abundance of populations is determined by less than lethal temperatures interacting with other environmental factors that either tend to favor or not to favor reproduction and growth.
Increased water temperature is an important consideration when toxic substances are present in water. Many substances (i.e. cyanides, phenol, xylene, zinc) exhibit increased toxicity at elevated temperatures. These toxicities and other physiological interactions are also influenced by temperature acclimation or history of the species."


Question: Does temperature really affect aquatic life?

Biomagnification Study

Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification, occurs when the concentration of a substance, such as DDT or mercury, in an organism exceeds the background concentration of the substance in its diet.


"In the environment, particularly lakes, waterways and wetlands, mercury can be converted to a highly toxic, organic compound called methylmercury through biogeochemical interactions. Methylmercury, which is absorbed into the body about six times more easily than inorganic mercury, can migrate through cells which normally form a barrier to toxins. It can cross the blood-brain and placental barriers, allowing it to react directly with brain and fetal cells. Mercury contamination causes a wide range of symptons in organisms, and affects the kidneys and neurological systems in particular. While low levels may not be directly lethal for individual organisms, toxicological effects like impaired reproduction, growth, neuro-development, and learning ability, in addition to behavioral changes, can lead to increases in mortality and the risk of predation for some wildlife."


"Piscivorous (fish eating) predators such as loons, merganser ducks, osprey, eagles, herons, and kingfishers, generally have very high concentrations of mercury. Mercury has been detected in Common Loons from Alaska to Atlantic Canada, and blood concentrations have been correlated with levels in prey fish species. A recent survey of mercury in loons from five regions across the US and Canada has shown that blood mercury concentrations increased from west to east, with the highest levels in southeast Canada. High levels of mercury are suspected to impair the loon's reproductive success as well as cause growth related problems.These problems inevitably lead to an increased death rate and a decreased birth rate, resulting in a reduction in the abundance of natural populations.
In addition, mercury has been found in predatory mammals such as otters from south central Ontario. It is thought that elevated mercury levels in otters may cause early mortality due to toxicity and behavioral changes. While the reproduction and behavior of bird species is generally affected by exposure to methylmercury, mammals most often suffer neurological effects. The severity of the toxic effects will depend on the degree of exposure, and may range from a slight impairment to reproductive failure or death.
In the past, mercury risk reduction strategies focused on restricting human consumption of heavily contaminated fish in order to protect human health. Such a strategy is clearly not adequate for the protection of wildlife. Species such as otter and mink cannot heed warning notices or fish consumption advisories. Since mercury is so widely distributed in the Canadian environment, their risk is real and immediate, especially when effects such as impaired growth and reproduction, neurological damage, kidney damage, and weight loss, which occur at relatively low concentrations, are considered."

Smith, Jerald W. "Mercury In The Food Chain." Enviornment Canada. N.p., Aug.-Sept. 2013. Web. Aug.-Sept. 2013.