Article Summary

The Water Cycle
Within the article read it states how the water cycle is how: water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools and condenses into rain or snow in clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the oceans, where it will once more evaporate. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere is a significant aspect of the weather patterns on Earth. And the cycle goes on and on. Its a cycle in which continues and is how our weather plans around it. 

Article: https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle

When the water cycle is happening, the water is either a solid, liquid, or a gas. First a cloud is formed by many  droplets and then the cloud will either rain or it will snow. This can vary due to the environment. Which this is a way that we continue to have water. The water that falls from the clouds, will either go into the ocean or it will sink in the ground. The cycle then repeats.https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/articles/nasa-earth-science-water-cycl

The article attached addresses the concerning amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. It lays out the fact that CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is commonly emitted into the atmosphere and how it is detrimental to the ozone layer. This then lead to the discussion on the amount of sun radiation we now face due to the excessive amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Lastly, the article explains how the actions of humans has caused the CO2 levels to increase drastically, therefore harming the environment.

The biomass pyramid is a very delicate balance that shouldn't be messed with. In the past it was realized that it is set up this way for a reason and an imbalance could really upset an ecosystem. The base of the pyramid is the widest and gets narrower the further you move up. Also, the bottom of the pyramid has a lot more energy with the primary producers, compared to the top with the carnivores. The four basic levels listed in the article are: primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers. Biomass is measured in calories per square meter. The biomass in the Pyramid of Biomass decreases when you move from the bottom of the pyramid upwards. 

Here is a link to an article about the air quality and pollution in the San Joaquin Valley. 

We were introduced to the topic of the water cycle a couple of weeks ago. This article shows the water cycle itself, and how water molecules make their way from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back again. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4816143/

The message from this article was how there are more oil well fracking waste water disposals in rural towns with higher percentages of non-white residents. It was also found that the people living in these towns had higher poverty rates than towns further from these waste water disposals. These findings could be due to the fact that since no one wants to live in poverty the town is smaller than an average one so there will be a seemingly smaller backlash from the actions of the oil companies. As a result form the oil companies actions, the town is viewed as more and more of a bad place simultaneously lowering the price of land and desire for others with a higher economic standing from moving into the town essentially putting the people already living in the town in more poverty than before. This along with the environmental impact of fracking is why there are so many mixed emotions about the topic of fracking. 

An article from University of California Museum of Pathology talks about the conservation and preservation of biomes. By building homes, needing paper and wood products hasn't allowed forests to conserve. The freshwater and marine biomes have suffered from pollution and waste dumping. For these biomes there is definitely something we can change in order to prevent the freshwater and marine biomes from being contaminated. If people aren't preventing pollution and their dumping it will backfire on them since there won't be fresh water available.

This article talks about the air pollution in the Central Valley and the effects on residents.  An interesting thing that it points out, to those that would fine the Valley for the pollution, is that it is not all caused by the Central Valley.  The geographical shape of the valley causes the particulates to be trapped here.  Not just what we produce, but those from the Bay area and China!  I was not aware of this.
The article is from 2014, but still holds a lot of value.  It describes how even active adults, with no other health problems, are having issues.  They see not other option, because not going outside is not an option for them with their active lifestyles.

According to a new study, racking wells in regions located within Pennsylvania are linked to poor rural communities where locals are experiencing a high rise in pollution. Researchers are concerned people living in these poor rural communities are suffering potential health risks such as air and water pollution associated with pulling gas from the ground. Although health risks have become a concern, industry groups believe the fracturing is happening in rural farming regions of Pennsylvania out of necessity and is providing a much needed economic stimulus. Researchers used a number of different tests to estimate expose to potential gas well pollution and came to the conclusion exposure was significantly much higher in poor communities. These studies raised environmental justice concerns for people in poor communities who lack access to information about potential ills of fracking. Companies associated with these fracking processes fail to recognize these studies and instead hold to the value that these fracking processes are helping the poor and not depleting their health. The lack of empathy for residents facing possible health risks shows the greed in companies who focus on making money by any means necessary. 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003592030800271X

Indoor air pollution is one of our major health concerns, especially the more developed countries. We have our homes so insulated and pollutants such as, asbestos, carbon monoxide, radon, and Vocs are being trapped. We are constantly exposed to these because we like to spend most of our time indoors.