Article Summary

Sumatran tigers are an endangered animal and scientist say that there's no chance for optimism. Back in 1996 to 2014 through a study done with trap cameras where you can see the increase of Sumatran tigers in the protected forest. This brought peoples hopes up but later on it was revealed that the tigers were fleeing from unprotected forest where the numbers were decreasing rapidly. Now there are about 400-500 tigers left which are being compacted to a small area. Their habitat is being taken over by new plantations of palm oil.Their loss of habitat isn't the only threat to them but there are also people hunting them down for money. One solution to stop the tigers from becoming extinct is to stop deforestation. This can be hard to accomplish because of the high demand of palm oil. 

Link to Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/science/sumatran-tigers.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront

The New York Time posted an article about the dangers of air pollution and bringing awareness to an individual. It was important to note how indoor air pollution can be more dangerous than outdoor pollution. It is something that we would not expect since being indoors in our home or job, we expect to be "safe." What many fail to realize is that the air we breathe indoor can cause those symptoms that usually seem to follow us such as colds or even allergies. They mentioned how indoor air pollution could be linked to headaches, respiratory problems, frequent colds and sore throats, chronic cough, skin rashes, eye irritation, etc. An example of indoor pollution we can find in our homes they mentioned are the kitchen, fireplace, heater, rugs, walls, furniture, clothing, tobacco smoke, gas ranges, different electronics and even the sheets you sleep on. When homes are tightly sealed, we see that more of the chemicals and pollutants that pollute the same air is more severe. Yes houses need to be sealed especially during the winter time to keep out the cold weather however, no air ventilation is happening and a lot of the time different chemicals are being used indoors. Proper ventilation should be considered and not smoking indoors to reduce indoor air pollution. 

     According to the New York Times, "We're Not Out of the Woods Yet", by Jennifer Medina, Miriam Jordan, and Mitch Smith is a recent news about the wildfires that took place in Los Angeles. Thousands of people evacuated leaving their homes in ruins. Some people got injured and some horses are dead. This is very terrifying for the people because they have to leave their childhood homes and leaving their possessions behind. Some people can return home but some still have to find shelter. The fire is causing air pollution which can be a health problem for the people surrounded in that area. Wildfires is a natural disaster that can harm at anytime. Lately, there has been many wildfires in California and people are trying to escape from it.

The article I read was about the health benefits of organic foods are unclear. The study focuses on a group of people a few adults and a few children. According to the article in the "U.S. sales of organic foods increased from $3.6 to $26.7 billion," but the question that many people ask " is Organic food better." Or is this just another lie.  Many Americans chose to buy organic good because they believe it is better because animals are fed organically produced, animals are also able to go outdoors, animals can get direct sunlight, fresh air, and freedom of movement.  However, according to the article and this study "The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria."  Overall buying organic food is more expensive, but while buying organic you know that animals are being treated better, the products we purchase will have fewer pesticides. Organic food will be better for our body. 


http://annals.org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/aim/fullarticle/1355685/organic-foods-safer-healthier-than-conventional-alternatives-systematic-review

The article I reviewed was an article on Evolution on live science.com. In this article, it gives a brief explanation of how evolution works. By also explaining that, they talk about Charles Darwins and Alfred Russel Wallace's book "Origin of Species." In the "Origin of Species," there is written evidence that evolution has occurred. 

"Evolution." LiveScience, Purch, www.livescience.com/topics/evolution. 

I read an article on Air Pollution from National Geographic website. In these article it talks about the different kinds of pollution there is. Some which are visible and others that are invisible The leading pollutant there is are carbon dioxide and green house gases that contribute the most pollution and also warm the earth. Although living things release carbon dioxide when they breath, "Carbon dioxide is a pollutant when associated with cars, plans, power plants and other human activities that involve the burning of fossil fuels.." Because of these activities it has caused for the levels of carbon dioxide to vastly increase over the past years. Green house gasses include methane which come from sources such as swamps and gas emitted by livestock. The final pollutant this article writes about is sulfur dioxide which is a component of smog, this pollutant is associated with climate change and is a cause of acid rain. Prior to reading this article i wasn't aware of the different types of pollutants there is and the affect it has on our atmosphere. I enjoyed reading this article and learning more in depth about air pollution since it has become a big problem around us. 
 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution/

The article "Take it easy: smoke from northern California fires chocking Valley air" found on fresnobee.com is about the recent fires in Mariposa County that is causing our air quality to be very bad. The causes these fires can have on us are asthma attacks, bronchitis, lung disease, and other infections. When fires like this occur, we are asked to stay inside as much as possible to limit breathing in the smokey air.   
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article178312831.html

I read a short article on Rainshadows from the National Geographic online. It was interested to see that California's Saline Valley, in Death Valley National Park, is the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Rainshadow signifying a piece of land that is forced to become a desert. These mountains block any kind of precipitation from falling in the valley. Therefore is there is no rain, then it creates a dry climate. Dry climate means that there are very few plants that grow. For these reasons the Death Valley is considered one, it's very warm and dry and also very few plants grown. 

Before reading this article I never thought about how climate change can affect the water cycle. As the climate changes and the weather begin to get warmer, the water cycle is greatly affected. This is due to the fact that a part of the water cycle is the evaporation phase. As the climate gets warmer, the evaporation phase is sped up. In the article, they also stated that more water vapor is able to be held when the air is warm. This means that some areas will be getting a lot more rain. This can be detrimental to certain places around the world especially if they are prone to flooding. However, flooding is not the only thing that can occur with climate change. Climate change can also have the opposite effect and cause droughts in certain places. https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/climate-change-impacting-water-cycle

The article “Energy Progress is Already Here” by Mark Perry was very interesting. It describes the process of fracking and how it could help our environment. The use of innovative technology allows us to extract gas safely and efficiently. The technique of horizontal drilling, fracking has unlocked a vast amount of resources that continues to shape the future of the US through hydraulic fracturing.

The journal discussed the ways in which pollution is rising the tempertures to rise. The article addressed the ways in which organic farming would help combat these changes, and help the biosphere as well as human health. Organic farming would produce food in a more integrated way in nature, and that would help combat environmental harm caused by pollution from farming. 

The article I read was about why we have so much pollution in California. One of the major thing is the population because even though an individual person may think what they produce a small amount of air pollution, when you add up the actions of everyone and combined the activities of 33 million people the problem turns into something big. Also, since California it’s a warm, sunny climate it makes it perfect for trapping and forming air pollutants. Then, since most of California’s cities are either built on plains or in valleys surrounded by mountains it males it hard for air to circulate. This causes the air to get trapped and almost impossible for the air to move to circulate around to clean air.