Mass Movements

Mass movements are when huge masses of various materials such as soil, rock, debris, etc. move normally down hills. The main cause of mass movements is gravity.

The constant pull of gravity is the immediate power behind erosion. It causes downward and outward movements of landslides as well as the downward collapse of ground.

Should the movie title be changed to Puente Hills?

The movie "San Andreas" should not have its title changed as the movie is about the entirety of the San Andreas Fault going off in a mega quake rather than just focusing on L.A. It even shows the Hoover Dam collapsing, and that's in Nevada.

L.A. over a century overdue for a mega quake as the last mega quake to occur was in the 1680s.

Dr. Jones is a 59 year old US geological seismologist that rose to fame after the occurrence of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake 20 years ago, which killed 50 people and caused over $20 billion in damage.

Dr. Jones is worried about L.A. should 'the big one' occur as many of the buildings in L.A. were built in the 50s and 60s, where there were major issues in design and didn't compensate for earthquakes. This means that those buildings could topple or collapse in on itself should an earthquake occur.

'Retrofitting' is the process in which a building is reinforced with stronger materials that help the building withstand earthquakes such as steel braces.

If there were to be a 7.5 magnitude earthquake to occur on Puente Hills, it is estimated that it would kill 18,000 people make Several million homeless, and cause up to $250 billion in damage due to it being right under downtown L.A.

Puente Hills is more of a risk to L.A. because there is a much higher concentration of people living there and it would cause more damage to L.A.
A picture of LA and its dense population

http://socialventurepartners.org.s3.amazonaws.com/www.socialventurepartners.org/sites/49/2013/05/Los-Angeles-Slider1.jpg

A picture of the earthquake's damage in Haiti

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Haiti_earthquake_damage.jpg

Sea level rise

It's possible to link sea level rise to the recent CO2 boom because the atmosphere and ocean communicate via exchange of gases. The increased amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere increases its overall amount, meaning that it gives more CO2 to the ocean inadvertently incurring sea level rise.

Oceans height is determined by many factors, as it is not a flat mass of water, so it is affected by many things. The melting of land based glaciers increases sea level, winds and the tide change it as well due to them moving water around in a specific way. Gravity changes the density of water, which means that the more gravity there is the more compact the water is, changing its height.

Scientists have managed to find a way to accurately determine sea level with the use of current technology. Satellites allow scientists to measure sea level from directly above, with satellites emitting a radio wave that acts as a sonar wave like bats. The satellite measures the time in which it takes for the radio wave to bounce back, meaning that it can accurately measure the height of the oceans granted that it was calibrated and coded properly with only a tolerance for mistake of one to two centimeters.

I have made a graph on infogr.am that displays the sea levels of Hawaii and San Diego over the course of fifteen years. Click here to view this graph


                              Sea level change due to increase in temperature that was caused by CO2

http://goo.gl/H25Oj1

Recent sea level rise that compares a three year average with satellite altimetry 

http://www.climate.org/topics/sea-level/images/clip_image002.gif

A survey

We have a survey that we will use in a project and your submissions would be very helpful.

Take our survey here

Ocean Acidification

Ocean Acidification is the process in which the Earth's oceans absorb more carbon dioxide, increasing its acidity. Carbon dioxide dissolves into water and turns into carbonic acid, and the way that oceans get carbonic acid is when it communicates with the atmosphere, and the atmosphere has had a huge increase in carbon dioxide as of late. This results in more carbon dioxide transferring into the oceans, making them more and more acidic. There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to humanities meddling in technology, and this technology requiring fossil fuels that burn through carbon dioxide as fast and often as we breathe air. CO2 is a much stronger greenhouse gas than water vapor because it can absorb much more heat than water vapor. This means that it can re-emit more heat onto Earth, contributing much more to the greenhouse effect. The ocean is having a pH deficiency, making the ocean more acidic and has less material for shelled creatures to create their sheLos, resulting in smaller shelled animals. Acids and bases are measured in pH. A low pH means that it has a higher acidic effect, while a higher pH means it's more of a base. Having the chemistry of the ocean changed affects the biology of the creatures residing there.
                                             The pH scale

                                      http://www.naturalalliance.org/images/ph_scale2.jpg
   A picture of the pH in the sea
 


 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/WOA05_GLODAP_del_pH_AYool.png

Human Footprint, Carbon & Sustainability

The five low impact areas that I chose are Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Alaska, Yukon, and The city Timmins. These areas are low impact because they have a sparse population only in a few concentrated areas, and are much less developed than cities like San Diego or Detroit. This means that nature is more abundant in these areas.

The five high impact areas I chose are San Diego, Detroit, Jacksonville, Vancouver, and New York. I chose these areas because they're urban, have an extremely high density population, and emit most of the world's carbon dioxide with millions of cars in each city. They also contribute to most of the world's light pollution and are pretty much huge blocks of concrete.

Here is the link to my map that details everything

                                           A picture of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere

                                 http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2012/07/1176525841-617x416.jpg

      http://modernsurvivalblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/usa-population-density-map-flat.jpg

 

A picture of population density in the U.S.

Carbon & I

Carbon has been a present element on Earth since its very beginning. The Carbon Cycle represents all of the ways that carbon travels through the biotic and abiotic (living and non-living ecosystems) sections of the world as it changes states.

There are many ways that carbon ends up in the carbon cycle, one way is through sedimentation, plants and animals being buried under layers and layers of dirt, soil, rocks, etc. and being compressed over millions of years into fossil fuels such as coal, oil or natural gas.

Another way that carbon stumbles onto the carbon cycle is through respiration, the process in which animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide into the world where plants absorb it and release oxygen, in a never-ending cycle.

Fossil fuels are made of living organisms that died millions of years ago such as plants and animals that eventually convert their energy and carbon into what we know as crude oil and coal. The process in which living organisms turn into fossil fuels takes millions upon millions of years, while humans are burning through Earth's supply of it over the course of hundreds of years. This means that fossil fuels are an unsustainable resource yet we are already reliant on them even though we will eventually run out of it with no way to replenish our supply.

Carbon in the modern world has both positive and negative effects. A positive aspect of carbon is that it allows us to advance technology and culture, with most of our tech such as phones, clothes, and other various pieces of technology that we take for granted today. A negative effect of carbon is that it essentially overloads Earth's supply of carbon in the atmosphere, which increased the greenhouse effect increasing the global temperature, ultimately devastating many species of animals and plants that have adapted over millions of years and are temperature specific.

I took a survey online that shows how much carbon that I'm saving throughout my life, and I found out that I'm saving 6,371 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year compared to the average American. For some odd reason it also told me that that is the equivalent to a car driving 6,796 miles.

      The Carbon Cycle in action

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Carbon_cycle.jpg/1215px-Carbon_cycle.jpg

      A graph showcasing annual carbon emissions by region per year

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/files/2014/06/Emission_by_Region-RRohde.png

Click here to go to a graph showcasing our carbon dioxide emissions throughout the years.

Dear Kearny HS Students: We Are Out Of Water

California is going through a drought that seems like it'll never end. The drought has only been noticed recently, but it's been going on for much longer than you might have thought. The drought has been going on for longer than 20 years, and only now are we feeling the effects that we should have prevented years ago. We have lost so much water that we only have enough water for everyone for one more year. There won't be enough water for even half the population in San Diego though there are ways that people have come up with to limit water use, in order to conserve. There would be restrictions on water use that would be punished by a fine of up to $500 if you don't listen to the restrictions and waste more water than necessary. These restrictions would regulate water use, restricting the times that you can hand-wash cars and water your lawn. There are some always in effect, such as the rule that you can't hose down a sidewalk with water to clean it. These aren't all of the restrictions, though. There are restrictions that even affect the rich that control companies with buildings that have water circulating through them. They would be required to fix any leak in their water pipes' system immediately otherwise there will be a large fine they'd have to pay. We may be too late in taking action against this drought, but we are doing our best to deal with what we have and fix what we can.


A picture showing where we're at in the drought
sdcwa.org

a picture of dry, cracked earth lacking water.
Countrynewscenter.com

Plastics, Greenhouse Gases, and Sustainability

Plastics and an increase in greenhouse gases through man made means have many negative effects to planet Earth because it changes the environment organisms have evolved to thrive in for billions of years in the time span of a few hundred years. The effects of these things are drastic and sudden, and may eventually compromise the food chain through extinction of animals we need to survive.

Plastics find their way to oceans through humans that dump their trash there, where the plastics break down in a process known as photodegradation. As plastics degrade into smaller and smaller pieces they begin harming the ecosystem. It's allowing insects that live on the sea to lay more eggs with the plastics increasing the land they can lay eggs on as well as harm sea life such as fish that breathe in the degraded plastics.

Human-produced greenhouse gases affect Earth in most likely the most detrimental way. With more greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect increases in strength, allowing Earth to retain more and more heat. This is a very harmful effect because many animals and insects evolved to thrive in very specific conditions. For these conditions to change so fast and so much, they may very well go extinct. It also hurts crops that are temperature specific, changing where they can be grown and maybe even changing fauna that live in places that will be the most affected.

Plastics and greenhouse gases are sustainability issues because they will harm future generation's ability to survive.

Getwellstaywellathomelife

An example of plastics used in everyday life

A portrayal of the greenhouse effect
www.ecy.was.gov

San Diego, California & H2O

San Diego is located in the desert therefore has a desert climate. San Diego gets most of its water by importing from the State Water Project and the Colorado River. We only get 20% of our water via local sources, everything else is imported.

Since San Diego is so dependent on importing water, it is not a foolproof way and may become unreliable in the future. Thus, San Diego has established a plan to supply the city with water in 2050. The way we plan on getting water in 2050 is by increasing water production locally, through desalination, recycling water, and getting more water from the ground and surface.

The reason that San Diego is preparing for a water shortage is because San Diego imports most of its water, meaning that it doesn't produce it locally and in the future the water supply may be compromised by being unable to get water from outside sources. The population would grow along with the demand for water, while we would either get the same amount of water as now and be unable to buy any, or get even less water. The only way to ensure a fix to this problem, San Diego has created this plan to increase water production in the future, allowing it to be more water efficient and less dependent on non-local sources.

The San Diego County plans to meet the demands of the future through an increase in water production locally, rather than importing more and more from outside sources.

We were given a handout with a graph, this graph showed us what will happen to San Diego's water supply in 2050 if we leave it as is. The third and fourth estimated water needs predict what we will need, and what we will have. Their will be an increase in water demand due to population growth, but there will not be enough water to fulfill the public's needs. The fourth graph estimates how much we will have in 2050, with some parts missing conveying that there will be a large shortage of water in 2050 and we will have no way of getting more.
       AnExample of a home made rain barrel garden
gardenwatersaver.com
There are actually many ways that San Diego can save water. A few of the ways that San Diego can conserve water is through use of rain barrels, High Efficiency Washing Machines(HEW), High Efficiency toilets(HET), and various other sources. Using rain barrels, you can save hundreds of gallons  by storing free water that decreases the need to use tap water while giving you water you can use for non-drinking purposes, such as washing a car or watering your plants. The other two options are self-explanatory, they're more efficient versions of the original.

Since saving water is being supported as of late, people can earn rebates from following these steps to save water, by buying and using rain barrels, you can earn up to 75$ in rebates, but only up to four per home. By using more efficient versions of everyday products, you can save more money by needing to use less water and power, reducing costs overall as well saving you water. San Diego hasn't been self-sustaining 1947, having to depend on other sources as a reliable way to get water.
          www.metaefficient.com
            A picture showing how a toilet works

Extinction of the Dinosaurs

In the New York Times article titled The Death of the Dinosaurs by  Peter Brannen, published on January 31, 2015, detailed two theories about how the dinosaurs became extinct. One of the theories tells about how "a colossal fireball from heaven" crashing into Earth destroying everything while the other theory details of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes causing the end of the dinosaurs, as an alternate theory to the meteor theory (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/opinion/sunday/the-death-of-the-dinosaurs.html)

Gerta Keller, otherwise known as Dr. Keller, is a geologist that proposed that dinosaurs' mass extinction was not caused by a large meteor striking Earth, but by volatile gases, global warming, acid rain and acidic oceans caused by an abnormally high amount of volcanic activity.

The other theory, the most known and generally accepted by the majority of society, was proposed by a father-son team of Luis and Walter Alvarez where they presented evidence and explained how the dinosaurs became extinct, by an extremely large meteor that crashed into Earth and caused a day of extreme heat and meteor showers, immediately followed by darkness as the sun was blotted out by the dust and smoke that resulted from the meteor's crash landing on Earth.

Earth has already gone through five major mass extinctions, commonly called the Big Five, where most of the life on Earth was put down and left for dead in "a geologic eye blink." Some of them were even worse than the dinosaur's extinction, such as the End-Permian mass extinction that occurred 252 million years ago. I feel like mass extinctions halt the growth of so many types of life, and that makes me sad. At the same time though, life is given another chance at life and does things just a little bit differently than before which makes me happy.

Dr. Keller hypothesized her theory after finding evidence linking massive lava flows to mass extinctions within rocks located in Texas, Tunisia. These rocks indicate that there were warming episodes of up to 7 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 10,000 years, in which there were also acidifying oceans killing off everything with the exception of the hardiest of creatures of which ended up thriving for millenniums.

I believe that both of the hypotheses were both correct, hitting the dinosaurs at the same time, making it nearly impossible for anything to survive this mass extinction. There is evidence proving that both are possible and very likely have happened, so why can't both of them be right? "...the Alvarezes pointed to traces of extraterrestrial dust in the geologic record coincident with the extinction, a finding that was later buoyed by the discovery of a 110-mile impact crater centered in Chicxulub, Mexico." This quote practically proves the meteor theory while "...dated the Indian lava flows with the same precise radiometric dating techniques that have recently tied other massive lava flows to mass extinctions. The most destructive phase of volcanism, the scientists found, took place over less than 750,000 years, a geologically brief span, and overlapped the extinction." enforces the other theory.