Anne+L

=Week 4=

//Solar Balloons Power Refugee Camps//
This week in AP biology, we discussed different types of renewable and nonrenewable technologies.Thus, I decided to research deeper into solar energy, and I stumbled across this interesting use. Refugee camps are not electrically powered and are far away from any electrical grid. Then, relief agencies must bring in diesel generators which are reliable but heavy and expensive. This comes to the issue of cost, as relief agencies only have so much money to help out refugee camps. That's where Zephyr photo-voltaic balloons, or solar balloons, come in. Developed by Cedric Tomissi, Karen Asaraf, and Julie Dautel, the solar balloon is essentially a floating blimp covered with solar cells. It was inspired by kites and satellites. There are three parts to the balloon: an onboard computer, a water compartment, and a storage drawer with its deployment cable. The fabric of the balloon part is a thin film made of copper, indium, gallium, and selenide (CIGS). These balloons can fly up as high as 165 feet. To assemble the solar balloon, water is needed. Once you take it out of its drawer (so it can get optimal sunlight exposure), you add water. The Zephyr balloon contains an electrolyzer that is able to produce hydrogen from 9 liters of water. This inflates the balloon, and it will rise up into the sky. These solar balloons are able to obviously capture sunlight through the solar cells and generate electricity. The balloons are attached to a case on the ground by a cord, which is how the energy is transferred. Because the balloon is attached by a cord, people are able to drag the balloon to other places where they can obtain the most sunlight and therefore generate the most energy. Also, since the balloons are up higher to the sun, they can generate more energy as compared to solar panels on the ground. Estimates says that one balloon is able to power around 15 tents. In 2014, the Zephyr balloon won a Paris Artscience Prize, Challenge Humanitech, Entrepeneural Pitch Day, and EDF's Challenge for Sharing Energy in the City, 2030.

This week's question: How else can we use solar balloons?

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/photovoltaic-balloon-could-bring-electricity-to-disaster-zones-180953690/

=Week 3=

//What The Heck Is Monoculture Farming?//
This week in AP Biology we focused on a few topics, including the Paris Accord, future technologies, and factory farming. For this post, I'll be discussing how crops are grown in the factory farm system. In monoculture farming, crop planting is specialized, meaning that only one kind of crop will occupy one area. By putting the same kind of crop in a concentrated area, it minimizes costs and also increases yield. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of monoculture farming:

__Advantages__
1. Monoculture farming, as stated above, increases yield and minimizes costs. Farmers are able to channel their money into creating a type of environment for a certain type of crop (Let's use corn for an example). Because all the corn will be planted in the same area, farmers can optimise operations as the conditions needed for growing corn will be the same throughout the entire plot where corn is grown. This allows for more corn output with less money input. 2. Monoculture farming is efficient in that crops can be planted where the conditions are best for their growth. 3. Monoculture farming is a very simple practice and even amateur farmers are able to pull it off!

__Disadvantages__
1. By concentrating certain crops in the same area repeatedly, the crops deplete the soil of nutrients that those certain crops depend on. This leads to excessive use of fertilizers, which could potentially make their way into waterways, polluting the water and harming aquatic organisms. The chemicals in fertilizers can also make their way into ground water and into the air. 2. Crops grown in monoculture farming are more likely to attract pests and weeds because they are not as bio-diverse. This leads to use of pesticides which like fertilizers, can pollute both water and air. 3. It is easy for an entire plot of crops to become infected by pests if one plant is infected. The entire area is filled with the same plants, so these pests are also able to infect those too. 4. Monoculture farming decreases bio diversity and lessens options for consumers.

Why Else Is Monoculture Farming Used So Much?
Government policies heavily subsidize food products that are grown in monoculture farming and that also contribute to much of the manufactured food industry such as corn and soybeans. Companies like Monsanto grow these crops in abundance. Because most of our manufactured food products are made of corn/soybeans/etc, the food industry is essentially dominated by a select few companies like Monsanto and Cargill.

What Can We Do?
One alternative that is being implemented is crop rotation, where different crops are grown on plots of land. This will help bio-diversity and in turn, resistance to disease by pests and weeds. Currently, there are no straightforward practices that can get rid of the negative effects of monoculture farming.

So I pose some more questions: What can be done so that monoculture farming is safer for the environment? How else can we grow crops efficiently?

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http://greentumble.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-monoculture-farming/

=Week 2= =//Rising Air Pollution Because of Plants?//=

In cities, trees are usually planted because they provide shade, control storm water runoff, release oxygen for us to breathe by releasing it as a byproduct of photosynthesis. However, recent studies have shown that these plants can also bring harm because of the chemical compounds they emit such as isoprene. This chemical is able to react with human-made compounds and cause hazardous effects. For example, when isoprene reacts with nitrogen oxides, ground level ozone can be created, which can be dangerous to human wellbeing. These oxides mainly come from cars and trucks. This topic ties into sustainability, or lack thereof in this case. Air pollution is a threat to sustainability as it can cause human health issues, creating a life or death situation in some areas extremely affected by this issue. Sustainability in terms of ecology and the world refers to the capacity of our Earth to provide the resources needed. In this case, it is both the fault nature and humans that air pollution is worsening: without chemical compounds from both, ozone formation is less possible. Clean air supply is depleting.

Another question that was brought up in studies was whether temperature had a factor on the concentrations of chemicals that these city plants release. A simulation was set up in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan area during two summers: one in 2006 when there was a heat wave, and one in 2014 when the temperatures were as they usually were. In normal temperatures (about 25 degrees Celsius), plants contributed to 6-20% of ozone formation. However, in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, this percentage skyrocketed to a high of 60%. While the results were predicted, the magnitude of the contrast was truly unexpected.

It can be safely assumed that high temperatures cause more ozone formation because it forces plants to emit more chemical compounds. Even if trees are planted in cities for their beneficial qualities, the negatives are unable to ignore. And I ask you: How can we fix this issue of excess of chemical compounds floating about the airs of cities and lessen ozone formation?

Article Link: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/when-its-hot-plants-become-surprisingly-large-source-air-pollution?tgt=nr

=-= =Week 1= =//--- SUSTAINABILITY ---//=

1) After watching WALL-E, use your own background knowledge to define SUSTAINABILITY in your own words Sustainability can be defined as a way of living that conserves natural resources as well as nature itself. 

2) What are the next steps for the new settlers? That is, if you were to colonize an area in this condition, what are some of the first major issues & solutions that need to be accomplished for successful & sustainable future? The settlers must continue planting crops in fertile soil in order to generate enough food to feed all the settlers, then they have to become physically fit enough to withstand their own weight and be able to walk around freely so as to be able to begin life anew without complete help from robots. If I were to colonize such an area, I would make sure that the air is still fit for us to breathe and be able to live on Earth. We must be proactive in Earth's natural recovery- planting seeds and being conscious of what waste we produce. Food will be an issue as crops need time to grow, so they must live on the food on the ship. Soon though, they will be able to sustain themselves on Earth.