Rose+Listman

=ROSE'S SUSTAINABILITY WIKI!! =

Clarke the Recycling Robot (Wiki 4) **SUMMARY**: AMP Robotics produced a robot which they named "Clarke," that can recognize and sort beverage and food containers. It can spot food waste on recyclables and remove it using suction cups. Clarke sorts recyclables with 90% accuracy and 50% faster than any human doing the same job. Since Clarke is AI technology, it improves and learns the longer it does its job. In the future, it is possible that Clarke will be able to sort more types of recyclable materials and make recycling more efficient.  media type="youtube" key="c0myJzAdOOc" height="360" width="640" align="center" This video discusses how "Clarke" functions in a recycling plant, and how over time, it learns to distinguish certain textures, logos, materials, and symbols that will make it better able to sort recyclable materials. **But How Does This Relate to OUR AP Bio Class? ** In class this week we discussed the topic of resources and how they can be conserved. While it would always be preferable to reduce your use of waste and reuse it as long as possible, eventually, it becomes necessary to recycle. Many people do not understand all of the nuances of what makes something recyclable. With Clarke able to sort through recyclable materials and remove food waste, it makes recycling easier for the consumer and more efficient as a whole, which would greatly decrease waste in dumps and landfills.

Beef Production and Global Warming (Wiki 3) **SUMMARY**: Annual heat-trapping emissions from beef production amounts to about the annual emissions from 24 million cars. So, how can beef producers limit the negative environmental impact and lower their climate emissions? The 2 main heat-trapping gases that beef production emits into the atmosphere are methane and nitrous oxide. The former, mainly being emitted from cattle manure, whereas the nitrous oxide from manure and nitrogen fertilizers. In order to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable in this agricultural practice, beef producers need to increase carbon sequestration, as well as limit methane and nitrous oxide emissions. **How to Reduce Methane Emissions**: Increase percentage of legumes, Use high quality crops for grazing, Improve nutritional quality by breeding better pasture species. **How to Increase Carbon Sequestration**: Prevent overgrazing.
 * How to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions:** Use less nitrogen fertilizer, Use nitrification inhibitors.

media type="youtube" key="lLhEmGx8YQE" height="360" width="640" This video discusses the effect of raising livestock and cattle specifically on climate change as a result of the large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. It also discusses the effect of agriculture on the contamination of water and deforestation around the world, causing species extinctions and huge dead zones in bodies of water. It ends with an call to action and advertisement of the positive effects of a vegan or vegetarian diet.

In class, we discussed the topic of food sustainability, and the negative effect that agriculture has on our environment. Even the fetal pigs we dissected were as a result agriculture as their mothers were slaughtered for meat and the fetal pigs removed. It is important that we begin to assess the result that we, as humans, have on the environment, and start to develop more sustainable agricultural practices, possibly even forever changing the American diet.
 * But How Does This Relate to OUR AP Bio Class? **

Rain-Making Lasers (Wiki 2) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**SUMMARY**: In recent years, there has been an attempt to artificially cause rain by using "cloud seeding" or adding silver iodide to the air which water droplets can cling to. This method has some downfalls, for instance, it is not clear how efficient it is, or how dangerous adding these substances to the atmosphere is for the environment. Physicist Jerome Kasparian from the University of Geneva has suggested an alternative: firing laser beams in pulses into the air. It is believed that this could ionize oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the air. The water would condense on these ionized molecules. This essentially mimics the condition of a cloud before a rainstorm. media type="youtube" key="tPvvpCDWcuA" height="218" width="384" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">This video discusses new scientific exploration into the field of these lazers as well as experiments being done and the possible benefits of being able to make "rain on demand".

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">**But How Does This Relate to OUR AP Bio Class?** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">We discussed in class the topic of water availability. Only about 2.5% of Earth's water is freshwater, and only about 1% of that is available to drink. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">There are some areas on Earth that experience droughts and that are even at risk of running out of water. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">This technology could end or at least reduce the scarcity of water in many at-risk regions.

<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Top 5 Sustainability Themes (Wiki 1) **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Energy ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An important theme of sustainability is **<span style="color: #53d45f; font-family: Georgia,serif;">GREEN **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> energy sources, and the movement away from fossil fuels in favor of Wind Power, Solar Power, etc. **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Food/Farming ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">A sustainable community discourages **<span style="color: #e81313; font-family: Georgia,serif;">CAFOs **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> and **<span style="color: #e81313; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Factory Farming **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> and rather supports small-time farming to reduce pollution and animal suffering. **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Resources ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Maintaining **<span style="color: #53d45f; font-family: Georgia,serif;">forest **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> cover, **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">clean water **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">, **<span style="color: #e81313; font-family: Georgia,serif;">non-renewable resources **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">, etc. **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Waste ** **<span style="color: #53d45f; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Recycling **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">, reducing the use of landfills, storing **<span style="color: #e81313; font-family: Georgia,serif;">pesticides **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> so that they don't contaminate **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">water **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">. **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Health ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Making sure that everyone has access to **<span style="color: #53d45f; font-family: Georgia,serif;">clean air **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> and **<span style="color: #1a45db; font-family: Georgia,serif;">water **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">.