Fertilizer overuse destroying Chinese soil - study

Source: Reuters
Date: Nov. 18, 2010
Date Published: Feb. 11, 2010
Summary:


In southern China, citizens have been using too much nitrogen fertilizer. This is causing the soil to be completely unusable for agriculture. The pH levels are at 3 and 4 in some areas! This will not just last few days, it is a long term effect. Since most plants grow best in more neutral soil, like from 6-8, less varieties of plants will be able to grow. Soil acidification happens naturally, but in China's case, this is from the overuse of nitrogen fertilizer and the intense working of the soil. In 2007, China was producing 32.6 tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer and has been increasing since 1981. Soil surveys showed that the soil became more acidic after the country started to use nitrogen, or ammonium and bicarbonate and urea, fertilizers. Over all, the pH level in China has gone down 0.5 of a unit, which is significant. Lime can reverse this bad case of soil acidification, but it would be expensive. Other options for China are to reduce the amount of fertilizer they they use or to insert straw or crop residuals back into the soil to decrease its acidity.





Opinion:


I think out of the three choices China should save up the money over time and the government should reverse the soil acidification with lime. I would also want the government of China to set a limit to the amount of nitrogen fertilizers China is allowed to use. This would keep the acidity level down. If the reversed the acidity, but then kept using the fertilizers so much, the soil would just go back to its original, acidic state.





3 Questions:





1. Out of the three choices which would you do if you were the Chinese government? Would you reverse soil acidification with lime, reduce fertilizer use, or insert straw and residuals back into the soil?


2. If you were part of the Chinese population, what would you do to decrease the amount of nitrogen fertilizer use?


3. Why do you think the Chinese farmers are using so much fertilizer?





Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/TOE61805G.htm

Malaysia Messes With Mosquito Genes to Fight Dengue Fever

By: Jami Heimbuch

Published: 10.12.2010

Travel and Nature Magazine

Link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/malaysia-messes-with-mosquito-genes-to-fight-dengue-fever.php?campaign=th_rss

The deadly mosquitoes

Summary: This article is telling us about the mosquitoes, they are the primary way of spreading diseases in humans, the spread nowadays malaria or the evil dengue fever.

 Malaysia has been fighting a frustrated battle with dengue fever, and might become the first Asian country to use genetically engineered insects, rather than pesticides or managed water ways, to fight against the spread of the disease.  

Malaysia has started a test for genetically engineering male mosquitoes -- when they are released from the lab, they will breed with females mosquitoes to produce offspring with shorter lifespans. 

The Malaysian hope is that the population of mosquitoes will be reduced, and along with it cases of disease among humans. 

The disease the test is primarily focused on is the dangerous dengue fever, because it has no cure of treatment to avoid and destroy the virus.

 Researchers seem to feel genetically changing the lifespan of mosquitoes is the best course of action since the Malaysians water is not clean and the chances that it would get clean are very low chances .

 However, local environmental scientists are worried that the genetic change could have consequences beyond reducing disease in the far future -- after all, there are many species that feed off mosquitoes, and reducing the number of mosquitoes also means reducing food sources from birds to fish to other insects. The project plans to release between 2,000 and 3,000 of the newly modified mosquitoes -- a fairly small number to start, but enough to see whether or not mosquito numbers begin to drop. I guess we would see in the next couple months if the results are good or bad.

My opinion: I think that by modifying the genes of mosquitoes, it will surly hurt other  species that are being fed of mosquitoes, this is a very risky step that might cause the world major changes in population and biodiversity,i hope it will not intervene too much with other species. The idea of the scientists is good and i think it will reduce completely the number of human infected by the dangerous disease, but yet i hope that no other species would be damaged completely by humans.

3 Questions-

1. In what ways would you try to remove the mosquitoes which spread difficult diseases?

2. What do you think might happen to species that are being fed of mosquitoes? Explain about their food chain?

3. Do you think this experiment could work? why or why not?

New Monkey Species Discovered In Columbia

This Article is about how a new Amazon Monkey species has been discovered in Columbia and researchers said that thursday that they believe the small, isolated population is at risk due to the cutting of the forest that is its home. This find was announced by Conversation International a group that helped finance the research in remote rain forests that until recently were considerd too dangerous for scientific work. The researchers believe that the species may be critically endangered. They estimate that there are less than 250 of the monkeys living in the forest.

I think that it is horrible that there is a possibility that these monkeys can die and or go extinct. I think that people should help save these monkeys. Even though we just discovered them we have probably been cutting down their homes and killing them without even noticing it. And if we did know this was happening i think that comeone should step in and tell the people cutting down the forests that they cant do this. Think about these questions.

1 If you had power, control, or money, how would you try to change this situation?

2 Why do you think that we have been so neglegent about the species that keep dieng because of us?

3 what are some ways that we can make living and homes more efficient and stop, or drastically slow down the rate that we cut down our forests, and hurt wildlife?

www.foxnews.com/world2010/08/12/new-monkey-species-discovered-columbias-amazon

Old Foes Square Off Over Issue of Puppies

Old Foes Square Off Over Issue of Puppies

This article is about how Montana and Missouri is the biggest states for bredders for dogs. Some people were agruing over the fact that you should have a certain amount of puppies you can breed. These people have agrued before about farm animals and now there going at it again. Animal rights have been protected and the people that have livestock for a living are complaining that it's not fair. There is now a proposition, Proposition B, have limited the amount of breeders in one state. 2 million dollars have been put to supporting this proposition. One person said this is the first step to complelety destorying the industry in US. These groups of people are also trying to debate the hunting games and make sure there are enclosures where you can't hunt for the animals. It is said that breeding dogs without a license can cause problems. Dogs can get sick and could die without proper care. For people who breeding puppies is their lives work and profession will be in a battle over this time.

I think is a good article to debate about. I'm on the side of the non-breeders. Only people who have a license to breed should be able to or it could cause major problems. And even if you have a license there should be a limit of puppies one person can breed or all of them could get sick. It sounds like these two groups of people fight an awful lot about a lot of topics. I do feel bad though for the people who make money off of breeding puppies because they will lose a lot of money after they get cut back from the limit of puppies they can breed.

Question:

1. Who do you think will win the agruement? The people who want to non-breeders or people who want breeders?

2. Why is people breeding puppies without a license cause a problem?

3. Why do you think this is one step for destorying the industry?

India's Tata group unveils two new variants of low-cost water purifiers

One of India's largest industrial groups recently released a more effiecient, and cheaper water filter for people to use to get their water clean. The new filter is priced at $16.60 as a opposed to the last cheapest - $20 - or other more expensive brands. The new filter also doesn't use electricy. A major problem with past water filters was that they required some kind of power source to run. THe majority of people that are in need of these filters barely have enough money to pay for clean water none the less electricity. People that didn't have electricity to use with these filters were forced to use the pollucted, unclean water that causes so many illnesses in this region.

I think that this is a great thing for the Tata Group to be focusing on. With water shortage and clean water scarcity being such a problem in that region, this company is making an extremely wise choice to give people a cheaper, better way to clean their water. When a life nessicity such as water comes into play, you really have to think about what it's going to take to get everyone the clean, unpolluted water that they need and I'm personally really glad that the Tata group is doing just that.

1.) If you could do something else to get people in India more clean water, what would it be ?
2.) Do you think that as making things becomes cheaper, we will be able to produce cheaper goods like this to poorer parts of the world ?
3.) Do you think that such a small object is going to have that large an effect on the slums of India ?

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/332787,indias-tata-group-unveils-two-new-variants-of-low-cost-water-purifiers.html