Home » Posts tagged 'CHRISTINA FABIANO'
Tag Archives: CHRISTINA FABIANO
Global Climate Change & Its Link to Soil Organisms
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE & ITS LINK TO SOIL ORGANISMS
When people think of the consequences of global warming, most jump to the melting ice caps and death of beloved polar bears. We know that as our Earth undergoes climate change, it’s adversely affecting the ecological balance in complex ways. For the first time, however, a study done at the University of California Berkley, has linked climate change to the downfall of microbial species that are considered essential to ecological systems. Previous studies have identified the use of chemicals as harmful for soil organisms, insects, and birds, but never has climate change been pinpointed as a threat to these species.
The study states that “models predict that up to 30% of parasitic worms are committed to extinction, driven by a combination of direct and indirect pressures.” With this, species that are adapting to the climate change will allow them to “invade and replace” native organisms resulting in unpredictable, but most likely negative consequences.
Dr. Colin Carlson is the lead author of the study and estimates that we will see a huge extinction rate within the soil organisms as time and climate change continues. He blames this effect on the loss of habitat and the implications of trying to coexist. The end result of this could be detrimental to the human species, requiring lively soil to live.
Carlson explains that the effect of climate change on soil organisms has gone unnoticed for so long because our research focuses on the impact of the change on animals like vertebrates. Most people see microbial organisms as pests, rather than a crucial part of the ecological system. Since the modernization of agriculture, we have seen soil as a medium for holding plants, as Jenny Hopkins, author of “Can American Soil Be Brought Back To Life”, likes to put it.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Soil Erosion and Its Monetary Cost
SOIL EROSION AND ITS MONETARY COST
The modernized food industry has pushed farming practices to the back burner in the eyes of consumers. Still, the majority of our food comes from the land. That being said, the issue of soil erosion isn’t making front pages, but amongst those that lobby around organic farming and environmental health issues have identified the degradation as increasingly problematic. In order to help the problem, activists are looking for help from the government and policy regulators to aid in the protection of farmland. However, most feel that the topic is tired out amongst those that should care the most, and because of that the urgency to gain awareness is crucial.
Soil erosion is a naturally occurring process that can affect all types of landforms. In agriculture specifically, the topsoil is worn away by water, wind, or human practices like tilling. The process of soil erosion includes detachment, movement, and deposition. The topsoil, which is the most nutrient part of the soil, removes itself and eventually is carried off-site. The process reduces the productivity of the soil and can actually hurt surrounding ecosystems as well.
Dr. David Lobb of the University of Manitoba recently completed a study to show that $3.1 billion worth of crop capacity has been lost due to soil erosion. Lobb identified practices like tilling, mouldboard plowing, chisel plows, and hoe drills to be some of the leading factors in soil degradation, as well as easily preventable ones. Lobb focuses his research within the Canadian borders and has identified that the adoption of no-till farming has significantly reduced the soil erosion due to wind in Western Canada, but in Eastern Canada, the fight against till-farming continues. Ontario’s rates for no-till farming is declining due to how hard it is to keep up with farms that use some tillage.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Going Off the Grid to Cost Others
GOING OFF THE GRID TO COST OTHERS
Victorian power company AusNet Services is sharing evidence of parliamentary pushing to update the industry that is ever-changing and incredibly innovative. AusNet is one of the five distributing companies of electricity in Victoria and covers the outer northern and eastern suburbs, as well as the eastern portion of the state. AusNet says that a Federal Parliamentary committee is attempting to modernize Australia’s electricity grid, which is causing havoc amongst some customers.
Many households are moving onto more environmentally friendly and long-term cost-effective strategies when it comes to consuming energy. Some of the popular alternatives are battery storage and solar power. The move from grid connection to unconnected electric distributions is being called grid defection. The issue at hand is that this grid defection is going to raise the cost for those that choose to, or need to, stay apart of the grid. The rise in cost will stem from recovering costs to operate the system from fewer customers. This will particularly affect those residents that don’t have the monetary means to switch from grid use to the up-front costly alternatives. The low-income households will suffer the most from this push to modernization.
Aside from those who cannot afford to break away from the grid, some residents won’t have the opportunity at all to move to alternative electricity distributors because of its lack of feasibility. The company denies that they are sending these messages to the public for their own good, but claim that they want to inform the public and allow them to make decisions based on the greater good of the community. Alister Parker of AusNet says that the company expects future advancements regarding solar power and electric cars to be adopted by consumers, but not in the way that is going to cost the less fortunate half of the community.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
