Noise pollution

Noise pollution doesn't have any impacts on people's health, but above all, it is annoying and irritating. It is still very much disregarded by people, just as light pollution.

Noise pollution contaminants are not physical particles, but rather waves that interfere with naturally-occurring waves of a similar type in the same environment. Thus, the definition of noise pollution is open to debate, and there is no clear border as to which sounds may constitute noise pollution.

The prevailing source of artificial noise pollution is from transportation. In urban areas, automobile, motorcycle, and even entertainment noise can cause sleep disruption in humans and animals, hearing loss, heart disease (as a result of stress), and in severe cases even mental instability.

Altough most nations have government agencies responsible for different types of pollution, none has one that regulates noise pollution.

Leonardo Campos

Global warming and his consequences concerning natural disasters

Although it is difficult to connect specific weather events to global warming, changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation may result in flooding and drought. There may also be changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, for example, hurricanes.

Global warming has alot of negative consequences, not only concerning natural catastrophes, sea level rise is not considered a natural disaster but his consequences can be more devastating than any natural disaster, so it's our job to put a stop on global warming, if we all work together there's still a chance.

Volcanoes

A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur.

Volcanoes are as deadly as they seem, they are known for knocking down wntire forests, and an erupting volcano can cause tsunamis, rock slides, flash floods and earthquakes.

What causes an eruption is simillar to what causes an earthquake. The tectonic plates move and the friction caused between them causes the volcanic eruption.

Volcanoes are blamed for the destruction of entire territories troughout the ages, including a ancient roman city named Pompeia, this village was completely destroyd during the eruption of a near volcano called Visuvio.

Lightning

Lightning is a bright flash of electricity produced by a thunderstorm. All thunderstorms produce lightning and are very dangerous. If you hear the sound of thunder, then you are in danger from lightning. Lightning kills and injures more people each year than hurricanes or tornadoes.

Lightnings are caused by the colision of frozen raindrops within the clouds, that fills up the clouds with electric charges. The charges are positives and negatives, wich causes them to atract and create a lightning.

Inspite of lightning being very dangerous, it is also a very beatifull thing too admire.

Radioactive contamination

Radioactive contamination is another type of pollution; and a much more dangerous one.

Radioactive contamination occurs when radioactive material is deposited on or in an object or a person.A person exposed to radiation is not necessarily contaminated with radioactive material.
A person who has been exposed to radiation has had radioactive waves or particles penetrate the body, like having an x-ray. For a person to be contaminated, radioactive material must be on or inside of his or her body. A contaminated person is exposed to radiation released by the radioactive material on or inside the body. An uncontaminated person can be exposed by being too close to radioactive material or a contaminated person, place, or thing.

How Exposure or Contamination Can Happen

- A nuclear power plant accident
- An atomic bomb explosion
- An accidental release from a medical or industrial device
- Nuclear weapons testing
- An intentional release of radioactive material as an act of terrorism

What can you do in case of contamination?

- Get out of the area immediately;
- Remove the outer layer of your clothing;
- Wash all of the exposed areas of your body;
- Take prescribed medication after confirmation of the contamination.

Leonardo Campos

Earthquakes

Earthquakes are the shaking, rolling or sudden shock of the earth’s surface, they can be felt over large areas although they usually last less than one minute. One of the most dangerous things about earthquakes is the fact that they cannot be predicted.

Earthquakes are caused by the squeezing or stretching of the plates, then huge rocks form at their edges and the rocks shift with great force, causing an earthquake.

Earthquakes are mesegured by the Richter scale, and can go from 1 to 10. The ones with the magnitude of 1 are named micro-earthquakes and are never felt, but they are recorded. An earthquake with the magnitude of 10 as never been recorded, but the estimated effects are catastrophic.

Earthquakes occur all arround the world so here are some safety tips concerning earthquakes:

-Before an earthquake choose a safe place in every room. It’s best to get under a sturdy piece of furniture like a table or a desk where nothing can fall on you. Allways have a disaster supplies kit, is very important, it can you help you in a lot of situations.

-During an earthquake stay indoors until the shaking stops. Stay away from windows. If you’re in bed, hold on and stay there, protecting your head with a pillow. If you’re outdoors, find a clear spot away from buildings, trees and power lines.

After the major earthquake there are allways replics, so everytime you feel one repit the same process again and you'll be allright.

Water Pollution

Water is life; we depend of it and of it's existance.

Attention to water pollution originally exploded in the 1980s when the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez (an oil tanker that spilled its oil near Alaska, destroying the local environment and killing a great deal of the native wildlife).

We must not allow others to pollute our water, putting at risk the existance of life in our Planet.
Water pollution comes in many different types, such as:

- Microbiological: Disease-causing microorganisms that are released in the water, poisoning the ones who drink and the fauna and flora that inhabit it;

- Chemical: Chemical released in water from te industry, contaminating it;

- Oxygen-depleting substances: Substances that, when in excess, drain the oxygen in the water, making it uninhabitable by fish.

How do we prevent water pollution?

- Not throwing oils or other pollutant matter down the sink;
- Conserving water;
- Using environmentally approved products;
- Not overusing pesticides and fertilizers;
- Not littering rivers, lakes or oceans.

As you can see, it depends of us too.

Leonardo Campos

A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground.

Tornadoes are mesugered by the Fujita scale, and the can go from an F0 tornado to an F5 tornado.

An F0 tornado will likely damage tress but they dont have to the power to destroy substantial structure, an F5 however, is capable of ripping of buildings of their foundations.

Tornadoes are not very common in portugal, but in USA for example, they occur very often, here are some safety tips concerning tornadoes:

-Before it occurs make sure everyone knows where to go in case a tornado threatens, prepare a disaster supplies kit for your home and car than includes a first aid kit, canned food and a can opener, bottled water, battery-operated radio, flashlight, protective clothing and written instructions on how to turn off electricity, gas, and water.

-During the tornado is very important to be in a place without windows so go to the basement, if you don't have a basement go to an interior room without windows on the lowest floor such as a bathroom or closet. Stay away from fallen power lines and stay out of damaged areas.

-After a tornado stay indoors until it is safe to come out. Check for injured or trapped people, without putting yourself in danger.

The Global Warming

The global warming is a climatic problem of large extension. In the last 150 years, we can verify an increase of the global surface medium temperature. The meaning of this increase is under analysis by the world scientists.
A big part of the scientific comunity believes that the increasing concentration of human origin pollutants in the atmosphere is causing the greenhouse effect.
The earth receives radiation from the sun and returns most of it into space by radiation heat. The air pollutants retain a part of that radiation, that would be reflected into space, under normal conditions. But due to the increasement of air pollutants, much of the radiation that normaly would be reflected to space, stay at the atmosphere, heating earth more and more.

By: Sandy Gomes

Whale

The whale is an endangered animal. She can be easily recognized by it’s big rectangular head, that equals to 40% of it’s total length. It’s color is normaly grey but it can also be brown, in rare cases. The average weight of these animals is about 45 tones in the males and 20 tones in the females. They feed out of fish, octopuses and squich. It is endangered because of it’s rare and expensive products, like ambar-gris.

By: Sandy Gomes

Greenhouse Effect

Is called greenhouse effect to the absorption of infrared emissions by the atmosphere, stopping the same emissions to escape to outer space.
The greenhouse effect is a natural characteristic of earth’s atmosphere and without this effect, the temperature that we are used to would be much lower. The current inbalance happens because this effect is gradually increasing.
The main gases that cause the greenhouse effects are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), mitrous oxide (N2O) and CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons). Nowadays, these gases concentrations are increasing mortally because of it’s liberation through industries, transportations and deforestation.
By: Sandy Gomes

Ozone

In the upper layers of the atmosphere, the ozone acts like a protector shield, absorving the UV rays that come from the sun.
However, the ozone is easily destroyed by gases as CFC’s, halogenated compounds, carbon tetrachloride, methyl bromide, HCFC’s and HBFC’s, that are emitted by activities related to industry.


By: Sandy Gomes

Air Pollution

"Two million people a year killed by air pollution, says WHO"

http://www.naturalnews.com/020666.html

According to a new study of the WHO (World Health Organization), air pollution causes roughly 2 milion premature deaths each year.

Air pollution is of the most known forms of pollution, since the problems that are caused by it are very grave and actual, such as respiratory diseases.
Air pollution comes in many types, like, for instance, smog, which results from the mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide; acid rain, which comes from the reaction of primary air pollutants, primarily sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides; temperature inversions and soil contamination.

The sources of this pollution are:

- Power plants, manufacturing facilities or municipal waste incinerators;

- Motor vehicles;

- Marine vessels;

- Burning wood;

- Waste deposition in landfills, which generate Methane, a non-toxic but flammable gas.

It is to our best interests that we protect our community from these sources.

Leonardo Campos

Light Pollution

"Our desire for night-time lighting in a 24-hour society seemingly justifies any amount of wasted light"

I stumbled across an interesting article regarding light pollution. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4794249.stm)

This article enlightens most of the causes and consequences of wasting light.
Altough light pollution is ignored by many many people, it is a problem as grave as water pollution or air pollution. Not just to our health, but to our pockets as well. Every year millions of dollars are wasted in light pollution, which has no purpose whatsoever. Even the most modern streetlights shine directly into the sky, and serve no purpose.
Salesmen don't help either, since most stores sell bulbs from 150 to 500 Watts. A 5-watt bulb used in lighthouses can be visible for more than 21 miles.
It is everyone's job to prevent this, even if just by turning down the lights in our houses, or buying new bulbs with less wattage.

Leonardo Campos

Some of the Causes

-> The chemists used for the conservation from the wood of the granaries;

-> Illegal slaughtering and generalized pursuit

-> Lacking of natural preys and perturbation of the habitat;

-> Perturbation of the places of nidification;

-> Captures for commerce;

-> Species threatened by the intense and indiscriminate hunting;

-> Destruction of foods;

-> The last inquiries point which thousands of animal species were extinguished in the last hundred years. A great deal of these species never will be known by future generations. We know that, a great deal of them, they might reveal to humans important information on the environment and even the cure for determined types of diseases.


By: Stephanie Sales

Rhinoceros

Name: Rhinoceros
Geographica distribution: Asian south-west: Indonesia and Vietnam.
Natural habitat: It lives in tropical dense forests. These animals prefer zones with much water and mud.
Food habits: They eat berries, seeds, leaves and fruits.
Size: Height: 1,50 m – 1,70 m. Length: 2 m – 4 m.
Weigh: of 900 kg up to 1400 kg.
Gestation period: 16 months
Number of broods: 1
Life expansion: 35 years.
Conservation state of the specie: rhinoceroses are threatened extinction, due to the fact of not being so fertile – each female only has a brood of two in two years – and, so, they are very vulnerable to hunting, besides they suffer from the destruction of its habitat. They have been hunted intensively because practically all its parts are used in the traditional medicine. The most valuable part is the horn, which has been used like aphrodisiac, to cure fevers, or to prepare a potion that supposedly allows to detect poisons.
By: Stephanie Sales

Lynx-Iberian

Name: Lynx-Iberian
Geographica distribution: Portugal and Spain.
Natural habitat: the main habitats are the woods and Mediterranean thickets where it looks for shelter.
Food habits: Feed almost exclusively of brave-rabbits, however, its’ diet can be complemented by rodents, birds and broods of cervidae.
Size: Length: 80 cm up to 110 cm; more tail from 11 to 13 cm.
Weigh: 10 kg up to 13 kg.
Gestation period: It varies between 63 and 74 days.
Number of cubs: 1 to 4
life expansion: Up to 13 years.
Conservation state of the specie: The lynx-Iberian is considered now the most threatened feline of the world and is classified one of the species in danger of extinction by the Red Books of Portugal, Spain and UICN.
Also it is protected by Berna's Convention and by the Convention that regularizes the Commerce of Wild Species, being considered by the Directive Habitats as priority specie. The biggest threats to its survival are the decreasing of the brave-rabbit and the destruction of the Mediterranean habitats.
By: Stephanie Sales

Panda

Name: Panda
Geographica distribution: South of China and Tibet.
Natural habitat: Bamboo forests of th mountainous region of china, in altitudes of 1500 up to 3000 meters.
Food habits: They are fed almost exclusively of tender leaves and buds of bamboo.
Size: up to 1,50 m
Weigh: up to 160 kg.
Gestation period: 7 to 9 months.
Number of broods: 2
Life expansion: from 10 to 15 years in his wild habitat and up to 30 years in captivity.
The status conservation of species: The Deforestation of the Asian forests, the slow reproduction of bamboo (base of the food chain of the Pandas), the excess of bureaucracy, inefficiency and voracious hunting put the panda under serious risk of extinction. Making it harder for the preservation of the species, their ability to procreate is minimum.
By: Stephanie Sales

Endangered animals

Extinction is a natural process. Depending on it’s extinction, the species are substituted by others more adjusted for a determined environment. Sooner or later, all the species are going to extinct one day. It’s even possible that one day humans will be extinct.
Plants and animals are developing (it means they are modifying gradually) for new species. The continuation of this process sometimes means the extinction of some species. A millions years ago, our world was habitated by very different species.
Of these species, the most known were the dinosaurs.
They were on the Earth tens millions years ago, but, eventually, they were extinct and were substituted by different species, including birds and mammals.
During the last five thousand years the human kind became more and more destructive. They pursued some species even to the extinction and, in present, they are destroying habitats.
Animals and plants are extinct in almost all the parts of the world and they exist species close to extinction practically all over the world.
Due to the density and quick growth of the human population, many species of great mammals are being threatened, like elephants, lions, rhinoceroses and the tigers.
The only solution is making more parks and reserves.
By: Stephanie Sales