4Tim_SES

=Speaking Environmental Science 105(7)TDc=

1. Introduction and Course Requirements
Welcome to Speaking Environmental Science. You can contact me by email at timothy.darrington@cpe.fr however, I am not available 7/7 so do not expect an instantaneous reply.

Speaking Environmental Science gives you the opportunity to share your insights into the world of environmental science, and to discuss key environmental issues from a scientific, political, financial and social point of view in English. There is no lack of topics but the following give some idea of the scope of the course. - Water ressources: hydrology - Physical geography - Biodiversity/endangered species - Consumer choices - Peak oil - Feeding the growing world population - Mineral resources, mining and its politics - Ecological footprint, - Green power and politics - Climate change - GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms)/ - Organic agriculture - Waste management and pollution - Recycling

This is your course and you are the masters of the course. If you do nothing, not much will happen and the whole thing will be a flop!

1. This week you must become members of the wikispace simonteach.wikispaces.com by clicking on "join" and warning me by separate e-mail (please use same address). Next and every week, you have to put your ideas for discussion / link(s) to an interesting article you have found on this page by the Friday (23h59) of the week preceeding each class. Penalties will be applied to students who fail to post at least one insight / question / subject for discussion on the wikispace each Friday. Then, by the Sunday (23h59), you need to have read all that the other students have posted, and to react (intelligently) to at least ONE of the topics posted by another student. AGAIN students who fail to post an intelligent reaction every weekend will be penalised. DO NOT attempt to predetermine your response(s) with another student - this is neither intelligent, nor acceptable in science - If I detect such behaviour I will penalise students involved.

Students are expected to bring a laptop to class to facilitate research and discussion and classes will take the form of debates, speaking in pairs and groups, quizzes, listening exercises and other inter-active types of communication. You are the prime-movers in your learning here, so think, be active and be creative! Also keep a list of new vocabulary (new to you) as there will be a short vocabulary test in the last class. The wiki and the participation in class will make up 50% of your final grade.

2. Secondly, everyone will create a short oral activity for your classmates to enjoy and take part in. This will be about an environmental issue that you would like to share with us and will lead to a class discussion. There is no absolute requirement to use Power Point. Your activity must be fun and very interactive, for example, a game or a quiz for the whole class or a debate with interactive questions. This will make up 25% of your final grade.

3. Finally there will be writing tasks to complete. You are to produce short reports (400 words each) on 2 topics chosen from those discussed during the semester (not your own topic). These should include: i) Information you gleaned from the talk and discussion in class, ii) further information on the topic that you have researched, iii) a personal comment. Together, these two reports will be worth 25% of your final grade. Please hand in only paper copies of these reports, the first by 13th November, and the second and (a copy of) your vocab. list (see 1.) by 4th December.

Have fun writing your posts in English !

Tim

Posted on 27th September 2016 by Tim
Hello everybody! You should write your posts HERE (i.e. just after this one)

Enjoy,

Tim

Posted on 6th October 2017 by Arthur
Hello everyone. First I am not sure that I am posting it correctly but, I guess I will know afterward. Lately I was wandering on YouTube when I came across this coverage dealing with food waste. The video explains pretty well why and how food waste is one of the most pressing environnemental issue that needs to be dealt. What I liked about this video is that I could see how easy it was to overcome the problem and how hard it was too. Indeed, the solution would be to realize how easy it is and what impact it would have. The report also gives a solution named Copia wich is a company that ciculates food surplus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RlxySFrkIM

Posted on 6th October 2017 by Louis TER OVANESSIAN
Theme : Mining ressources and digitalization Mes Aynak and Iconem : how to keep a memory of our environment


 * [[image:http://img.over-blog-kiwi.com/1/47/74/29/20150809/ob_95378d_interview1.jpg width="326" height="219" align="BOTTOM"]] ||
 * Mes Aynak (Source : http://homme-et-espace.over-blog.com/2015/08/les-derniers-jours-de-l-incroyable-site-de-mes-aynak.html) ||

Links :

[|http://iconem.com/mes-aynak-2/]

[|https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/01/china-to-destroy-ancient-buddhist-city-to-mine-copper.html]

Last Sunday, I went to the Science forum in La Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (Paris). There were several fascinating meetings about scientific innovations. One of them dealt with i tech archeology. The CEO of a start up named Iconem presented his recent projects of digitalization.

Amongst them, the project of Mes Aynak. Mes Aynak is an archeological site in Afghanistan. It used to be an training base in 1990 of Ben Laden. It is an ancient Buddhist monastery. But nowadays it is threatened by a mining contract signed between Afghanistan and China. As a result, the UNESCO charged Iconem to digitalize and create a virtual copy of the site before it becomes a giant open-pit mine of copper.

So my question is the following : before the destruction of our natural and archeological world by human pollution, global warming, etc., should we copy our environment ? Are the new technologies the only tool to photograph our current world and give a true memory to the next-century generations ? Louis

Posted on 6th October 2017 by Loïc
I hope to publish correctly.

It is an article of the National Geographic.

This article is an introduction to the problem of the rise of the sea level. It quickly exposes the different causes and dangers that the rise of the waters represent. A rising water represents for many cities and islands a great danger. Do you think that one day we will see the disappearance of entire cities as is already the case for some islands?

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/

Loïc Daronnat

Posted on 6th October 2016 by Tim
Well done to Arthur, Louis and Loïc for **editting** in their posts: Where are posts from the other 5 members of the class?

Somone, managed to translate the whole of 4Tim_SES into French and I had to spend some considerable time restoring the page to English. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS ! Also please do not use the "discusion" button: Thanks.

The video about food waste (Arthur) is interesting because it discusses the psychology of why we are wasteful - a subject which has not been much explored.

I look forward to reading your reactions and see you on Monday

Tim

Posted on 7th October 2016 by Fanny
I hope to publish correctly too.

Subject : GMO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TmcXYp8xu4

I saw this video which deals with the controversial subject of GMO. On the one hand, GMO is a good solution to feed every one as population is increasing. Moreover, it can solve some problemns, for example the problem of drought in some countries by creating genetically modified plants able to resist to the lack of water. On the other hand, GMO leads to some problems because it can spread in non GMO cultures. Do you think that GMO is a safe solution for human health ?

Posted on 8th October 2017 by Loïc
I have watch Fanny's video about GMO.

I found this video very interesting. We see both, the positive and the negative points of GMO. I think that we can't continue without GMOs because with the expansion of populations it will be necessary to feed billions of people and without making the plants more productive that will be complicated. This video joins mine on the rise of the sea level which creates infertile lands. Perhaps, thanks to the GMO it will be possible to cultivate again lands full of salt.

Posted on 8th October 2017 by Louis TER OVANESSIAN
Theme : rise of the sea level.

Answer to Loïc : Are we going to see Amsterdam under the sea ?

I have read the article found by Loïc. The pictures are truely expressive and the figures give a quick look on an urging situation. To answer to your question, I think we will see the dramatic consequences of the sea level increase earlier than what we used to calculate. The phenomena are indeed evolving in a no linear way. Once natural cycles are disturbed, we might expect to a run-away phenomenon.

For information : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_on_land_with_elevations_below_sea_level

Louis


 * Environmental History / History of Environmentalism Timeline Table**

When did it become illegal to discharge sewage into a waterway? ||  ||   || When was it outlawed? || 1921 || An engineer woking for General Motors discovered in 1921 leaded petrol properties. However, it leads to many death and poisonning. Leaded petrol was prohibited first by the United States in 1975 || 2 million years ago it was about 180 ppm. Since the start of the industrial revolution CO2 concentration has increased by more than 45 %. || What is the problem ? || prehistory || Heavy metals were used in prehistory to produce weapons and tools because of their malleability and heaviness. But heavy metals are toxic for human health and damage the environnment. || of the global warming of the seas, Cods go further in the north so fisherman had to go to Iceland area to fish. || 9000 years B.C || It was the first city built, it is the lowest city in the world. So they have water because they are under the sea level, so they cn be irrigate all time. It is the first city where their was cabins strongly built (with stones and mastics) || years ago || This is the youngest land in the world. It appeared thanks to the collision between two tectonic plates. || -1815 || - In the south of Peru. The temperature has been drop because of the ashes wich hide the sun rays. - It happened in Indonesia. || industry of pesticides. It caused illness for 3 generations. || minimum is the minimum that plants need to grow. || When was "production" banned? ||  ||   || Fundametal cause of greenhouse effect are human activities since the beginning of the Industrial revolution which have produced a 40% incresase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere || 1,910 deaths || Exxon Valdes spill? || 16 march 1978 || A ship encountered stormy weather with gale conditions and high seas. A big wave destroyed the helm. The ship loss hydraulic fluid. 4,000 tons of fuels oils were dumped into the sea. Or Water plus oil create viscous faom hard to clean. 20,000 birds and 9,000 tons of fish was killed. || 172 government participated with numerous associations. The issues adressed included : - systematic srutiny of patherns productions (toxic component/poisonous waste) - alternative sources of energy - new reliance of public transpotation || Publication of "How to build up worn out soils"? || 1760 and 1905 || Jared Eliot was a natural philosopher who did experimantation in hardier grains, better fertilizing methods ans silkworms culture. Her book want to make agriculture better. The second book is about agricultural experiment too. He tried to combine old and modern agriculture to create even better agriculture. || When was it's use banned? || 1945 1972 || DDT (Dichlorodipehnyltrichloroethane) was synthesized in 1874 for the firts time. It is a powerful insecticide. It was sold in 1945 in USA and it was banned in 1972 in USA too because of numerous negatives effects like cancer and the threat to teh wildlife like birds. || This ocean acidification kills marin organism and causes coral bleaching. Plus, this threatened us too because we are connected with the ocean by the food chain. || The world population reached 2 million The world population reached 3 million The world population reached 4 million The world population reached 5 million The world population reached 6 million The world population reached 7 million || 1800 1927 1960 1974 1987 1999 2011 || World Population Prospects 2017 (United Nations Population Division) : 8 million in 2023, 9 million in 2037, 10 million in 2055, 11 million in 2088 || Effective : 2005 ||  || When were they finally banned? || Discover : 1881 Banned : 1979 (US Congress), 2001 (Stockholm Convention || PCB is the short name of polychlorinated biphenyl which were use in the industry but banned because it causes cancer. || Who wrote it ? || 1972 || A book dealing with simulations of an exponential population and economic growth with finite resources. It was written by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers and William W. Behrens III ||
 * **Event** || **Year** || **Significance** ||
 * The Bering Straits land bridge disappears || 13 000 years ago || 1- That was a land between Siberia and Alaska where people lived. Because of melting ice, that land disappeared. ||
 * When was Greenpeace founded? || 1971 || It was founded by Jim Bohlen and Irving Stowe. The 10 of july 1985, the French secret service put nuclear bombs on a Greenpeace ship in Auckland harbour and a man died. ||
 * Cedar forests in southern Iraq cut down? || 2100 years B.C. || Men deforested southern Iraq to defy the gods.Then, the soil erosion devastated the agriculture so people moved on to the north. ||
 * The discovery of America? || 1492 || Christopher Colombus discovered America. ||
 * The "Blue Marble" photo? || 1972 || The mission Apollo 17 took the first picture of the whole Earth from space. ||
 * Chernobyl? || 1986 || It was a catastrophic nuclear accident. It created radioactive substances, so there were radioactive rainfall in mountains, water contamination, health problems... ||
 * The concept of "Earth Overshoot Day"? || 2006 || Also called Ecological Debt Day, it is the date on which humanity's ressource consumption for the year exceeds Earth's capacity to regenerate those ressources that year. ||
 * Laws to outlaw waste disposal in waterways?
 * The Great Fire of London? || 1666 || During 4 days there was a huge fire in London who did not killed many people but destroyed lots of buldings. ||
 * When was the term "acid rain" coined? || 17th century || Acid rains were discovered because the rains damaged Greek sculptures. Indeed, acid rains have a lot of negative consequences on soils, forests, aquatic life forms, buildings... ||
 * When was leaded petrol first used
 * "The Dust Bowl"? || years 1930 || Also called the Dirty Thirties, it was a period of severe dust storms that damaged agriculture in American and Canadian prairies. ||
 * When did we start measuring atmo-spheric CO2 concentration? || 500 million years ago || 500 million years ago CO2 concentration was about 7000 ppm
 * Damming rivers ? || PREHISTORY || First dams were build in Egypt in the prehistory. Dams are useful to produce hydroelectricity. However, they have a negative impact on fishes as they change their habitat and block fish migration. ||
 * Using heavy metals ?
 * When did we start seriously worring about "Greenhouse gases"? || 1824 || A French physicist named Joseph Fournier argued the existence of the greenhouse effect in 1824. In 1859 the first experimental observations were done with the measure of radiative properties of greenhouse gases. ||
 * The "Cod War" ? || 1976 || 2- This is a war between UK and Iceland, about the fishing rights. Because
 * When was the first city built (Jericho)? || 10000-
 * When did Iceland appear? || 15 million
 * The eruption of Huaynaputina? of Mt Tambora? || -1600
 * Bhopal ? || 1984 || It happened in India. "Bhopal gas disease" because of the explosion of an
 * Oil Spill during the First Gulf War (Kuwait)? || 1991 || Big explosion of oil barrels. ||
 * Release of "An Inconvenient Truth" || 2006 || Movie about climate changing and global warming. ||
 * William Penn's clearance limit (deforestation limit)? ||  ||   ||
 * Formulation of "The Law of the Minimum"? || 1940 || Liebig is the first man which speack about bio-chemistry. The law of the
 * Legislation defining the notion of a "National Park"? ||  ||   ||
 * Atmospheric Atomic Test Ban Treaty? ||  ||   ||
 * When was the toxicity of Dioxin first suspected?
 * The founding of the WWF? ||  ||   ||
 * Space pollution? ||  ||   ||
 * Loss of water table and pollution due to fracking? ||  ||   ||
 * When did we start seriously worring about "Greenhouse gases"? || the 2000's century || Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation within the thermal infrared range (which increase the global warming)
 * Vajont dam disaster ? || 1963, October 9th || In Italy, the tallest dam in the world was in Vagont; The 9th of october, a landslide caused a megtsunami and destroyed numerous villages and towns.
 * Sea separates landmass of Ireland from rest of UK? || -16 000 BC || Before this century, Ireland and UK formed one big island covered of ice. Due to the ice melting, the level of teh sea rised and Ireland was separated of Great Britain. ||
 * Mt Vesuvius eruption? || 24, August AD 79 || Eruption created a deadly cloud that killed and fixed at the same time the city of Pompei. This eruption ejeted tons of rock and hot ash which has changed the landscape and destroyed the nature. ||
 * The industrial revolution? || 1760-1820 || With creation of factories and engines, pollution increase a lot as well as the level of carbon dioxide and temperature. ||
 * Amoco Cadiz spill?
 * First "Earth Summit" ? || 3 to 14 June 1992 || It was a Major United Nations Conference held in Rio de Janeiro.
 * The extrinction of the Dodo? || 1662 || Dodo is an extinct bird to the island of Mauritius. The dodo was not afraid by human and the dodo was comestible.Being an easy prey the pirates and navigators passing by that they ate quantity until extinction. ||
 * The Clean Air Act passed? || 1963, december 17th || Clean Air Act is a united states federal law to contol air pollution on a national level in USA. It permits to control factories and cars on air pollution and punish someone who don't respect the authorized level of air pollution. ||
 * Publication of "Essays on Field Husbandry in New England"?
 * When did we discover the "hole in the ozone layer"? || 1970's || This hole is in the Antattic ozone (Earth's stratosphere) layer. The primary cause of ozone depletion is the presence of chlorure-containig sources gases; ||
 * The Windscale accident? || 10 october 1957 || It is the worst nuclear accidant in Great Britain's history. The fire took place in the unit 1 f the nuclear center during 3 days. The radioactive contamination created lots of thyroïde cancer (240) and the milk from 500km² was destroyed to preserve health. ||
 * When was DDT first used as an insecticide?
 * Founding of "Friends of the Earth"? || 1969 || It is caring community (ONG) about environmental : climate change, foo, water, bioenergy... We can read article in her site. They want to create a just world where people and nature thrive together. ||
 * When did we become aware of ocean acidification ? || 1751 || It's the decrease of the pH of the oceans around the orls caused by the high level of CO2. Normally, sea water is basic (pH >7) but with carbone dissolution the sea water becomes acid (pH <7).
 * Déforestation ? ||  || The first cause of deforestation is for subsistence farming 48%, 3% for commercial agriculture. The first effect is the contribution to global warming because each tree catch CO2. But it affect water cycle because trees extract ground water. The deforestation increase rates of soil loss and destroy biodiversity. ||
 * The world population reached 1 million
 * When did the Sahara desert form / start forming ? ||  ||   ||
 * Bubonic plague? || 541-767,14-15th century, 17th century, 19th century || Periodic episodes, 25-50 million of dead during the Justinian plague, 30% of the European population killed by the Black Death (1347-1352). ||
 * El Nino? || 10 000 years BC || The first evidence in 10000 years ago bu the phenomenon is cyclic, every 2 to 7 years. It lasts 9 months to 2 years. ||
 * Three Mile Island? || 28th March 1978 || Nuclear accident that costed billions of dollars. ||
 * Kyoto protocol ? || Signed : 1997
 * Laws to outlaw / control animal waste disposal within cities?(Cambridge, Paris, Philadelphia) ||  ||   ||
 * Foundation of the Society for Pro-tection of Cruelty to Animals? || 1824 (UK) || The first foundation of this kind was created in the UK. ||
 * When was the term "Smog" coined? || 1905 || Coined by Dr H.A. Des Voeux, treasurer of the Coal Smoke Abatement Society. smog = smoke + fog ||
 * When were PCBs developed?
 * Publication of "Unto this last"? || December 1860 || Violently criticized ; inspired non violent activists Gandhi, showed the destructive effects of industrialism upon the natural world ||
 * Torrey Canyon spill? || 18th-30th March 1967 || 164 million litres of crude oil spilt, induced changes in international regulations ||
 * Publication of the bestselling report "Limits of Growth"?
 * When did we become aware of plastics pollution of the oceans? || 1988 || Great Pacific garbage patch discovery : a country-size vortex of plastic ||
 * When did Britain become an Island? i.e. When was the English Channel submerged ? || 450 000-180 000 years BC || Repeated openings and closures of the English Channel. First flood : 1 million m3/s, destruction of the ridge ||
 * When did we start seriously worring about "Greenhouse gases"? || 20th century || In 1896, Arrhenius was the first to use basic principles of physical chemistry to calculate estimates of the extent to which increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide increase Earth's surface temperature. But we start seriously worring only in early 20th century ! ||

Posted on 12th October 2017 by Marie-Alice
Hello everybody, This week, I would like to speak about the place of plastic bottles in our society, after its use. This video shows these effects on the environment and also explains the damage they cause to the oceans. The mismanagement of waste gets considerable damages, like "The great pacific garbage patch". However, we can reduce this impact in reducing our consumption of plastic bottles ans in recycling this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xlNyWPpB8

Posted on 12th October 2017 by Loïc
After watching the video of fanny I watched several other video of the same YouTube channel that I find very interesting and playful. I found particularly interesting this video about the disappearance of bees and the different effects that this produces. Indeed, our society is very closely linked to these insects which pollinate for us billions of plants. Without it, our world as we know it is likely to change radically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqA42M4RtxE


 * Posted on 12th October by Fanny**

Subject : acid rain Video link : []

Hello, I saw this video about acid rain. I found it interesting because it explains how rains become acid. I learn that rain is naturally acid with a pH of 6 but some processes produce acid rains with a pH of 3, which are 1000 times more acid than natural rains ! Acid rain contains sulfuric acid, created by the combustion of fossil fuels containing sulfur, and nitric acid. Moreover, the video explain in what way acid rains are harmful for plants.

So knowing the process of acid rain formation, my question is the following: Don’t you think that acid rain phenomenon will get worse in few years, regarding the important use of fossil fuels in our society? What can we do to limit this phenomenon?

**Posted on 12th October 2017 by Nolwenn**
I find this article about the access to water very interesting, especially the fifth part which deals with the fact that we don't really know the costs of water. Of course, we all need water to live. But surely, we could use it more intelligently. I think that maybe the waste of water in rich countries is due to this ignorance of the costs of collecting water and making it drinkable. How do you think this could be remedied ?

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/mar/17/access-to-drinking-water-world-six-infographics

Posted on 13th October 2017 by Louis TER OVANESSIAN
Theme : Environmental activism and security

Activists of Greenpeace penetrate into the nuclear power plant of Cattenom

Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW3QehIORD4

Here are the facts. Yesterday, at 5:37 am, individuals got by burglary on the site of the nuclear power plant of Cattenom (Moselle). The intrusion was immediately detected by the teams of safety of the site and the gendarmerie intercepted them at 5:45 am. The intruders always stayed outside of buildings and the nuclear zone. EDF said that this intrusion had no impact on the safety of the installations. However fifteen activists reached to cross the two barriers and went in front of the building which is the nuclear tank of waste nuclear fuel. There, they light a firework. What was their aim ? They want to make a of proof of security failure in French nuclear plant and to highlight the fact that nuclear tanks are not protected. So my question is : what is the limit where activists could go in order to help to an improved environmental awareness ?


 * Posted on 14th October by Fanny**

I read the article suggested by Nolwenn about the lack of water in some countries and its costs.

The situation is really alarming because in some countries people don’t have access to water to live whereas in other, like in Las Vegas, there is an over consumption of water.

I think that the first step to improve the situation is to make people aware about the situation and to limit individually its water consumption because water is a precious and expensive resource.


 * Posted on 14th October by Nolwenn**

I have seen the video posted by Loïc about the disappearance of bees and I was shocked. I had no idea that honey bees were about to disappear. The problem is that nobody really knows the causes of these deaths in large numbers. Perhaps we should start looking for a way to replace the work of these bees in order to preserve our diversity of plants.

Posted on 14th October by Louis
Theme : acid rain

Answer to Fanny : Will acid rain phenomenon get worse in few years

I watched the video posted by Fanny. This video is very clear and truely didactic. Concerning the fact whether acid rains will become more frequent in the coming years, I think it is very hard to make a forecast. As the video explained, if one parameter is human emissions, the other one is atmosphere recombination. Both are needed for acid rain. The problem is that atmosphere composition is changing. I mean, if there is fewer ozone gas, what will be the consequences ? More photoelectric activation and so more recombination to form acids ? It might be worse indeed. Another point the video missed is the destruction of human environment, especially monuments.


 * Posted on 14th October by Tim**

Interesting video about the effects of acid rain on soil chemistry. For the Greenpeace intrusion at the nuclear plant, in their communications the militants seem to confuse in French "securité nucleaire" with simple "securité d'qccès" ; two notions which are not the same at all. Even if they had got into the spent fuel storage pond building, this in itself would not compromise "nuclear safety". In English it is not so easy to make this confusion because we say "nuclear safety". This is curious because it is like confusing the "bouncer" with the nuclear scientist and indeed those who do break into nuclear installations are most likely to put their own safety on the line.

Best wishes and see you on Monday,

Tim


 * Posted on 15th October by Loïc Daronnat**

I watched the video posted by Fanny about acid rain. This video is very interesting and very clear to understand the phenomenon. In the future I think that the acid rain that destroys the plants, monument and land will intensify because we continue to reject more nitric acid and sufuric acid in the atmosphere. But we do not really learn where these acid fall and the impact on our society.

Loïc


 * Posted on 18th October by Loïc Daronnat**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzcwTyr6cE

I watched this very interesting video about the means of eradicating diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, flies and other flying insects. GMOs are not only used for plants, today to suppress diseases such as malaria, the mosquitoes' genes are transformed to not transmit the disease.

Do you think that, like GMO plants, GMO mosquitoes will raise questions about health?

Loïc


 * Posted on 19th October by Nolwenn**

link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcOFV4y5z8c

I watched this video about nuclear energy. It explains how a water reactor works, and also asks the question 'should we use nuclear energy?'. Indeed, the nuclear energy only responds to 10% of the energy world demand. So does it worth it taking the risk of having nuclear disasters and paying for expensive replacements of old nuclear reactors ?

Nolwenn


 * Posted on 19th October by Mélanie**

Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNxctzyNxC0

I watched a video about overpopulation. It explains why we should have one kid because very soon, the planet wouldn't have any food or water to feed us. She says that before, we needed to procreate for survival but now for our survival, we must stop procreate. I think she's right in one way but having a sister or a brother is so funny ! Do you consider to hve one kid for planet safety ?

I have read the Loic's post and for me GMO mosquitoes are dangerous because may be they can't spread diseases like malaria but they can evolve and, who knows, they may develop other mortal disease.

I have also watched the video about nuclear plants. We need, nuclear plants because today, i don't know if we can produce less expensive electricity without nuclear industries. I agree that is dangerous but we need it.ed


 * Posted on 20 th October by Fanny**

Link : []

Hurricanes Irma and Maria devasted the Carribean in September 2017 and this article explains how climate change affects the Carribean. The intensification of droughts, the increase of the temperature, the rise of sea level and the decrease of rainfalls are due to climate change and could explain why these hurricanes appeared. To improve the situation, countries have to limit their greenhouse gases emission. In your opinion, how can we do to limit greenhouse emission?

Posted on 20th October by Louis TER OVANESSIAN
Theme : Animals and urban life

Animal colonies in gutters and project of natural recycling



Link : https://www.nature.com/ismej/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ismej2017166a.html

For the very first time we discovered the unsuspected wealth of the microbial life in our streets. Researchers of the laboratory of Biology of organisms and aquatic ecosystems (CNRS/MNHN/IRD/UPMC/ Université de Caen / Université des Antilles) in association with a researcher of the Max Planck Institute de Marburg, showed that the Parisian gutters shelter a big diversity of microorganisms. By analyzing near hundred samples distributed on the whole Paris, 6 900 potential species of eucaryotes were listed. This abundant biodiversity mainly consists of microseaweeds, amoebas, of mushrooms, of sponges and of mollusks, organized in communities. The researchers emit the hypothesis that these complex biological communities could be used to handle rainwater and urban garbage by contributing to the decomposition of the solid waste and the other types of pollutants. So my question is : Do you think humans are creating new ecosystems as by-products of their own development ?

Louis

Posted on 20th October 2017 by Marie-Alice
Hello everybody !

This week, I would like to show you a new kind of energy source, which could appear in few years. In fact, the Weindelstein 7-X reactor is a sort of miniature sun and is for the futur, the energy which solve energetics problems in the world. Yes, this energy source is supposed to be clean, sustainable and endless. Scientists from all over the world are looking for a way to understand and produce a such energy. Meanwhile, some machines like the one presented in this article are the result of these searches, which are not yet completed. However, this kind of energy souce requires a great mastery and great protection since it is very powerful and must remain in good hands. And you, what do you think about this new technology? energy link : https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600712/experimental-fusion-reactor-switched-on-in-germany/

Have a good week end,.

Marie-Alice


 * Posted on 20th October 2017 by Loïc Daronnat **

I watched the Nolwenn's video about nuclear central. I think that nuclear power plants are indispensable for the production of energy today especially in France where there are many nuclear centers. But as long as people have not found how to remove nuclear waste. We need to do the energy transition to no longer be dependent on the nuclear power station.


 * Posted on 21st October 2017 by Fanny **

Hello,

I have read Marie-Alice's article about a new source of energy using hydrogen plasma. It's an interesting invention because it could me a great alternative to nuclear energy. However, we don't know if this process is safe for human and the environement. Morever, it produces a huge amount of energy and scientist must control it. So I think that this project must be developped before being used.

Fanny


 * Posted on 22th October 2017 by Nolwenn **

I watched Mélanie's video about over population and what to do to reduce the world's population. I find it a bit crazy to impose people to have only one child just because there are too many people on Earth. I think it is a personal choice to have children or not, and some people just can't be happy with only one child. Moreover, look at what happened in China with their 'single child policy'. There were no more girls but just boys and they found out that it was a bad idea. So I do not think it is a really good solution and personally I do not intend to have a single child later.


 * Posted on 22th October 2017 by Tim **

Post on ecosysteem in Paris gutters is interesting and shows the resilience of nature; We need to find out more about this.

On the nuclear question (which I know fairly well) one of the reasons for using PWRs (Pressurised water reactors) as power stations is that apart from being cheaper than other nuclear systems (because the coolant and the moderator are just water), this technology has some safety advantages linked to this double usage of water: If the water boils (e.g. because of overheating) then the moderating (slowing of neutrons) effect is gone so the nuclear reaction slow in the locality of the steam bubble. This is a negative feed-bzck effet which help make reactors inherently safer. Tchernobyl did not have this feature, which lead to the explosion.

One fusion reactors, we are still some way from controlling the reaction - At Cadrache in the S of France, we are building a new test facility to try to master this technology.

Why do we need nuclear? 1g of Uranium contains 200 times more available energy than 1 g of coal. This is because of Einsteins famous equation E=mc2 In fission (spliting the atom) m is small, it's a delta-m but c is v. big so we still get a considerable amount of energy. With fusion we are dealing with m and not delta-m so the quantity of energy from 1g of hydrogen is that much bigger. (The "yield" of the first H bomb was about 200 times more powerful than the first A-bombs - for thise who are interested look for "Ivy Mike")

Finally even if nuclear is only 10% of worldwide electricity production, we need a balanced energetic mix. Fossil fuels cause greenhouse emissions (CO2) and solar and wind power do not work 24/24hr or 7/7d so we need a diversity of supply to ensure that the lights do not go out.

See you on Monday,

Tim

Posted on 22th October by Louis

Theme : Overpopulation

Answer to Mélanie : Do you consider to have one kid for planet safety ?

The reasoning is clear : we are so numerous that we are not able to provide food for everybody. How to solve the problem ? By drastic reductions of population, that is to say birth reductions. In fact the idea is very old : in 1826, Thomas Malthus, in Essay on the principle of population, proved the inevitability of demographic disasters, unless limiting the growth of the population. Malthus recommended a voluntary regulation of the births, the " moral constraint ": the far-sighted couples, by delaying the age of the marriage and by practising the chastity until the marriage, would be inclined to have only the number of children whom they are certain to be able to maintain or not. He also suggested to cup any help to poor people. But, personally, I fully disagree with those principles, don't you ? Louis


 * Posted on 26th October by Nolwenn**

link: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/forest-fires-stoke-record-loss-in-world-tree-cover/

I read an article about deforestation and forest fires. The climate change and the man-made global warming increase the fact that there are some very dry and hot regions on Earth. So forest fires spread much more easily and quickly in these regions. Then, the carbon dioxyde released by deforestation makes global warming worse. So my question is: what can we do to reduce forest fires and deforestation ?


 * Posted on 26th October by Fanny**

Subject : A weather and Climate satellite

Link : []

Hello everyone,

My last post deals with the hurricanes which affect Carribean last September. I found this article which presents a measure taken by the American government in order to prepare to other storms. It’s a satellite which is able to monitor weather and so could help to predict future hurricanes. Moreover, the satellite can estimate the impact of global warming on the planet. Indeed, it can monitor Arctic sea ice, the evolution of the ozone hole, find the location of forest fires… I think this satellite is a good tool to predict natural disaster and have a vision of the impact of human activities on the environment.

Posted on 27th October by Louis TER OVANESSIAN
Theme : Animals and oceanic change

Are the jellyfish coming ?

Links : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me_vX-ZnJPQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCigZ_bsTM

Jellyfish populations are described as rising and falling over several decades. In certain areas (the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Black and Caspian Seas, the Northeast US coast, and particularly in Far East coastal waters), jellyfish populations do go through dramatic increases, leading to periods where there seem to be more jellyfish than usual in a given spot. It is important to remind that their presence in the ocean is usually seasonal. Their growth responds to the availability of prey, which is seasonal in most places and increases with temperature in the spring and summer. Jellyfish also often move in large overwhelming rafts viewed as "fluthers" or "smacks".

New researches led by Dr. Anthony Richardson, who works as a scientist in CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship and University of Queensland, show that the overpopulation of the medusae group is closely associated with overfishing and excess nutrients. These nutrients come from fertilizers and sewage.

Indirectly, jellyfish overpopulation seems to be a result of human activities like sewage. But what about the temperature? So my question is, if jellyfish populations are increasing globally in response to changing ocean conditions : "What would be the consequences of a jellification of the oceans ?" Do you think we will eat jellyfish instead of fish ?

Louis

Posted on 29th October by Louis TER OVANESSIAN
Theme : Deforestation

Answer to Nolwenn : What can we do to reduce deforestation ?

Links : http://www.efi.int/portal/virtual_library/information_services/mapping_services/forest_map_of_europe/

Even if the problem of deforestation is nowadays a burning issue, especially because trees are said to be the lungs of the earth, since the middle ages, people do massive forests clearings in Europe. If you compare the current map of European forests and what this map should be in a natural temperate climate, the difference is really striking. In fact, we are blaming forest clearer in South America but we forget we did exactly the same thing in the middle ages to create fields and villages. Some interesting facts : since the 1930s almost half of ancient broadleaved woodland in England and Wales has been planted with conifers or cleared for agriculture. Only 3,090 square kilometres of ancient semi-natural woodland survive in Britain, that is to say, less than 20% of the total wooded area. Maybe the solution of deforestation is government limitation. I think we might follow the example of William the Conqueror who created the Royal forests in Britain. He established a great system of forest law. This operated outside the common law, and served to protect game animals and their forest habitat from destruction. An international special jurisdiction for forests would be efficient.

Louis


 * Posted on 29th October by Fanny**

Hello,

I have read the article proposed by Nolwenn about deforestation and the fact that global warming is increasing the risk of forest fires, and consequently it leads to deforestation. I think that if everyone contributes individually to reduce global warming, the situation will get better. Indeed, everybody can try to reduce carbon dioxyde emissions using public transports for example. Even if it is a small contribution, the multiplication of these actions can improve the situation. Fanny

Posted on 29th October by Nolwenn

I watched the videos posted by Louis about jellyfish. I do not think we will eat jellyfish instead of fish because they say in the video that jellyfish is not tasty and it is often dangerous. But I think that should make people react about the pollution they do because if we do nothing, we will no more be allowed to swim in the ocean.

Posted on 2nd November 2017 by Mélanie
Subject : Lack of water

VIdeo link : https://www.ted.com/talks/deepika_kurup_a_young_scientist_s_quest_for_clean_water

I forgot to post something last week. But I watched this video this week about the lack of water in the world. Deepika Kurup has seeking to clean water since she was forteen years old. I found this video very interesting because she speaks about a process with the sun to decontaminate water. Plus, only 2,5 % of the water in the world are freshwater and most of this freshwater are contminated. And many people in undevelopped country drink contaminated water and may develop diseases. Water is very important for human life seeing that our body are compound of 70% of water !! So, do you have other ideas to decontamine water or to remove salt of seawater ?

Posted on 3rd November 2017 by Louis
Theme : hydrology

South pole glaciation

Link : Antartica documentary

Yesterday I watched a documentary about new researches in the South Pole, named Antartica. And I learned a quite surprising fact. Because of the global warming, glaciers are melting...not surprising BUT, as they are melting they are slowly sliding in the direction of the ocean and they are producing a lot of freshwater. Furthermore, freshwater is easier to freeze than salt water. As a consequence, the ice lands are growing at the same time glaciers are melting ! As a result the endemic animals are further from the free water to fish. So my question is : do you think we can have other surprises with water isotherms ? Louis

Posted on 3rd November 2017 by Arthur
Theme : Biodiversity/landscape destruction

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/18/national-monuments-at-risk-trump-ryan-zinke-donald-trump

This article from the Guardian shows how step by step we are eating away at the Earth and its beauty. In deed, the journalist has made a list of ten US natural national monuments that will be destroyed in the future in order to mine or to log. This US governement's decision is an example of what humankind do to the Earth everyday.

Posted on 5th November 2017 by Louis
Theme : Lack of water

Answer to Mélanie : Do you have other ideas to decontamine water or to remove salt of seawater ?

Link : http://puretecwater.com/reverse-osmosis/what-is-reverse-osmosis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knePgp9UPAM

To answer to your question about a practical means to remove salt of seawater I'd quote the reverse osmosis as a a water purification technology. It uses a semipermeable membrane to remove ions and molecules from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure, driven by chemical potential differences of the solvent. Personally, I believe in this technology. What do you think about it ?

Louis

Posted on 8th November 2017 by Mélanie
Answer to Louis : I wattched the video about reverse osmosis in order to filtrate the water and I found out very interesting !! I didn't knew that a such process existed ! I think it's very genius !

For this week the theme of my video is : Ocean Trash Vortex

Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA0_xGH87n8



Earlier in this week, I watched a documentary about ocean pollution. I was so chocked about how many trashes are in the oceans. Scientists say that it could be have the size of a continent. That's why they call this "the 7th continent". This ocean trash vortex kills many animals specially birds and fishes who eat plastics, bottles, and other trash because they think it is eatable. I don't really know why no one care about it and why ships or boats can't clean oceans ? May be because nobody is going to pay for the cleaning... and you what do you think ?


 * Posted on 8th November by Nolwenn**

Link: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/offering-a-novel-method-for-waste-management/article19993872.ece

I read an article about a new method for waste management without foul odors. Maybe we should try to find new solutions in order to eliminate waste faster and also find different ways to recycle waste. Surely, if there is less waste in the streets, or bins that overflow, air pollution would stop increasing (or at least would increase slower). Do you have any ideas of new methods we could implement ?


 * Posted on 9th November by Fanny**

Link : https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming

According to scientist projections, the temperature of the earth will increase of 3.2 °C by 2100. Global warming has many consequences like sea-level rise, ice melting, and 275 million people live in areas which might me flooded. So global warming is a threat we have to consider and the article presents the consequences of global warming for several part of the world as Osaka in Japan.Indeed, the city could disappear in a 3°C world according to the article. I let you read the article to discover the damaging consequences of global warming on different countries


 * Posted on 10th November by Loïc**

I watched this video about nuclear energy and why it is harmful. She warns about why it is harmful : nuclear weapons, the toxic waste it generates and accidents. This video is the continuation of Nolwenn's video posted on October 19th. I think that we are dependent on nuclear energy and that it produces a huge amount of waste that we do not know how to treat but that we pile up underground, which creates contaminated areas that are very dangerous for the environment and that can lead to environmental crises.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEYbgyL5n1g


 * Posted on 10th November by Loïc**

I read the article posted by Fanny on the rising waters. I still think after reading this article and have done a lot of research on the subject for my oral that we will lose the earth as we know it today. Indeed the destruction of zone of life will create massive exodus. So we will have to feed more and more people with less and less land. This is likely to create wars and a return to anarchy and the law of the strongest who can by force keep the land that has. Or leave room for authoritarian governments that will keep the peaceful people alive.

I repeat my question : Do you think there is hope ?

(PS : Do not be afraid I'm not in depression.)


 * Posted on 11th November by Nolwenn**

I watched Melanie's video about the ocean trash vortex. I made some researches on the subject and I found that the same phenomenon exists between India and Africa, and between Europe and the Caribbeans because of sea currents. Moreover, most of plastic waste come from lands because humans drop it into the ocean. So the first thing to do is make people aware that they are polluting and killing animals. There is an other way to reduce plastic waste. I read an article about a boat that will go around the world and collect waste at each stopover and use non-recyclable plastics as a combustive. Maybe this idea is to exploit because that could reduce plastic waste as well as replace boats current combustives which are polluting a lot.

Theme : Nitrate storage

Link: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/groundwater/quality/nitrate/global-unsaturated-zone.html

Researchers at the British Geological Survey showed that huge quantities of nitrate chemicals from farm fertilisers are polluting the soil rocks. It could have severe global-scale consequences for rivers, water supplies, human health and the economy. Their report said the nitrate will be released from the rocks into rivers via springs. That will cause toxic algal blooms and fish deaths, and will cost industry and consumers billions of pounds a year in extra water treatment. Scientists from BGS and Lancaster University calculated the first global estimate of the amount of nitrate trapped between the soil layer and the water-bearing aquifers below: 180 million tonnes of nitrate are stored in rocks worldwide.

They explained: « Water and the pollutant travels through the rocks below our feet very slowly. This and a history of intensive agriculture means that a large store of nitrate pollution has built up over time. When this pollution is released, it will continue to impact water quality for decades, in some cases, even where controls on fertiliser use have been put in place. »

So we can name it a nitrate time bomb. So my question is : is there some alternatives to replace nitrates ?


 * Posted on 11th November by Fanny**

I watched the video proposed by Loick about the problemns caused by nuclear power. The problem is that we really depend on nuclear power to produce electricity and we don't developp enough renewable energy like in other countries. For example in Danemark a big part of the elctricity is produced thanks to wind energy because the country has many wind farms. So I think the government should finance the development of renewable energy to limit all the drawbacks caused by nuclear power.


 * Posted on 12th November by Arthur**

[]

First, I am sorry I was not able to post earlier. On this link you shall see ten power sources that would probably be used in the future according to 2005. I feel that it is interesting to see how to deal with the future lack of oïl and how the idealitic future powers should be greener. The most interesting stuff is that the point of view 12 years later changed a bit and some powers are already used.

Posted on 12th November by Louis

Theme : Rising waters

Answer to Loïc and Fanny : Do you think there is hope ?

Link : https://youtu.be/usDzh7l5HZw http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/shrinking-ice-sheets/ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-dimugno/prehistoric-climate-chang_b_1632686.html I think there is hope ! The key is the Archimedes'principle. The Antartic continent will be avalaible after melting. Some parts of this continent are now below the sea level beacause ice weight sank it. But this continent is really vast and fertile (just see the link of the Huffington Post). In fact, Prehistoric climate change already used to transform Antarctica into green wonderland. In the same way, an increase of CO2 rate in the atmosphere, might develop plants in Antartica. So to my mind some surprises like this one can be considered !

Louis


 * Posted on 11th November by Marie-Alice**

Hello everybody, I'm sorry but today I'm going to speack about an article written in French, because it's a discovery from the west coast of France. Researchers have recently discovered a 100% natural algae with pesticidal capacities (also called a bio-pesticide). Indeed, it manages to eliminate 100% of mildew on the vines and 50% of botrytis. This discovery is very important for this region as the wine trade is an important part of the economic market. Furthermore, this region tends to become cleaner in its practices for producing wine, that's why researchers find things to improve technics. This demand comes from consumer and also from inhabitants living near the wine-growing areas. http://www.sudouest.fr/2016/09/15/une-pme-bordelaise-decouvre-une-algue-qui-pourrait-supplanter-les-pesticides-2501574-2780.php


 * Posted on 12th November by Tim**

Hello everybody,

No more articles in French please (sorry Marie Alice) - this is an English course.

"Combustible" is not an English word - try "fuel".

On the subject of nitrates, the solution is simple: Green crops such as lupin or clover ... These plants are nature's way of fixing nitrogen in the soil - All fabeaceae and some other plants have nodules on their roots capable of fixing nitrogen.

Finally here it is the Timeline of Environmental Awareness:

It intensifies at 3900 BC Fully desiccated by 2500 BC || in Philadelphia : Not effective until 1762 to 1769 || growth is controlled not by the total amount of resources available but by the least abundant resource || 1955 air pollution control act || 1989 EU agrees to ban all production by 2000 ||
 * **Event** || **Year** || **Significance** ||
 * When did Iceland appear? || -17000000 || volcanic eruptions ||
 * The Bering Straits land bridge/Beringia disappears || -9700 || Russia separated from America ||
 * When was the first city built (Jericho)? || -9000 || one of the first known cities, first use of stone . ||
 * First evident of El Nino episode? || -8000 || In Holocene epoch. Strong El Nino between 1789 and 1793 caused poor crops and may have helped spark French Revolution ||
 * When did Britain become an Island (i.e. When was the English Channel first submerged) ? || -6100 ||  ||
 * Sea separates landmass of Ireland from rest of UK? || -6000 ||  ||
 * When did the Sahara desert form || -3900 || Desiccation starts 7500-6000 BC
 * Cedar forests in southern Iraq cut down? || -2650 || Forced people to move up north, towards Babylon and Assyria. By 2100 BC, salt had destroyed this land. ||
 * Mt Vesuvius eruption? || 79 || Pompei was buried under ashes ||
 * Bubonic plague? || 1347 ||  ||
 * Laws to outlaw / control animal waste disposal within cities? || 1366 || Paris forces butchers to dispose of waste outside the city. ||
 * Laws to outlaw waste disposal in waterways? || 1388 || English Parliament outlaws throwing of filth and garbage into ditches and rivers ||
 * The discovery of America? || 1492 || Started the Columbian Exchange which introduced plants like potatoes to the Old world. Approximate start of colonisation. ||
 * The eruption of Huaynaputina? || 1600 || 1601 was the coldest year in 6 centuries resulting in 3 years of famine in Russia. ||
 * The Great Fire of London? || 1666 || There were few deaths but about 13,000 homes burnt down. The fire put an end to the plague, and led to improved housing. ||
 * The extrinction of the Dodo? || 1681 || it was a big flightless bird which lived on Mauritius ||
 * William Penn's clearance limit (deforestation limit)? || 1690 || law that limits clearance / deforestation (1 hectare in 5) ||
 * Publication of "Essays on Field Husbandry in New England"? || 1748 || To 1759 (?) ||
 * The industrial revolution? || 1760-1830 ||  ||
 * Laws to outlaw / control animal waste disposal within cities? || 1762 || In 1739 Benjamin Franklin attempts to regulate waste disposal
 * The world population reached 1 million || 1804 || Some sources 1820 ||
 * Eruption of Mt Tambora? || 1815 || 1816 was « a year without summer » ||
 * Formulation of "The Law of the Minimum"? || 1828 || Liebig's Law, agricultural science
 * Publication of "Unto this last"? || 1862 || John Ruskin : a proto-environmental indictment of the effects of unrestricted industrial expansion. ||
 * Foundation of the Society for Protection of Cruelty to Animals? || 1866 || US society ||
 * Legislation defining the notion of a "National Park"? || 1872 || Yellowstone NP (USA) ||
 * When was the term "acid rain" coined? || 1872 by Robert Angus Smith || Precipitation that is unusually acidic. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. ||
 * When did it become illegal to discharge sewage into a waterway? || 1876 || To avoid contamination of water with pathogens ||
 * When did someone start worring about "Greenhouse gases"? || 1896 || Arrhenius proposed a relation between CO2 concentration and temperature ||
 * Publication of "How to build up worn out soils"? || 1903 || Soil ecology ||
 * When was the term "Smog" coined? || 1905 || By Henri Antoine Des Vœux in London ||
 * When was leaded petrol first used ? || 1921 || Discovery of anti-knocking properties. ||
 * The world population reached 2 million || 1927 || Some sources 1930 ||
 * When were PCBs developed? || 1929 || As refridgerant, used in transformers for example. ||
 * "The Dust Bowl"? || 1930s || dust storms and severe drought in US and Canadian prairies, great impact on agriculture ||
 * When was DDT first used as an insecticide? || 1939 || DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane). Swiss Patent ||
 * When was the toxicity of Dioxin first suspected? || 1949 || Nitro plant West Virginia (owned by Montsanto!) ||
 * The Windscale accident? || 1957 || the fire, the worst nuclear accident in Great Britain's history ||
 * When did we start measuring atmo-spheric CO2 concentration? || 1958 || It gives information on temperatures patt so one can predict how climate changes ||
 * The first "Cod War" ? || 1958-1961 || Between UK and Iceland concerning fishing rights. Expand territory due to over fishing ||
 * The founding of the WWF? || 1961 || WorldWildLife protecting the future of nature ||
 * Atmospheric Atomic Test Ban Treaty? || 1963 || Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty – Atmospheric Sr 90 at maximum. ||
 * Vajont dam disaster ? || 1963 || Man-made landslide, more than 1900 deaths in N. Italy ||
 * The Clean Air Act passed? || 1963 || 1967 amendments, 1990 major amendments,
 * Torrey Canyon spill? || 1967 || Uks worst oil spill, 32M gallons (~120,000m3) ||
 * Founding of "Friends of the Earth"? || 1969 ||  ||
 * When was dioxin "production" banned? || 1970 || Widely used as defolliant (Agent Orange) in Vietnam war ||
 * When was Greenpeace founded? || 1971 || ======international environmental organization for the protection of environment founded in Vancouver.====== ||
 * The "Blue Marble" photo? || 1972 || First complete picture of Earth taken from spacecraft ||
 * When was the use of DDT banned? || 1972 || in USA : Classified as carcinogen ic & abortive (1984 in UK!) ||
 * Publication of the bestselling report "Limits of Growth"? || 1972 || Exponetial growth of demand, with finite resources ||
 * Second and « Third Cod wars » || 1972-1976 || Iceland enlarges fishing zones, because of collapse in fish numbers and changes in fish distribution in N Atlantic. ||
 * CFCs shown to destroy ozone || 1974 ||  ||
 * The world population reached 4 million || 1974 ||  ||
 * Amoco Cadiz spill? || 1978 || 250,000m3 (1.6M barrels, or 69M gallons) spilt off Brittany ||
 * Three Mile Island? || 1979 || Worse US civil nuclear accident – core melts ||
 * Bhopal ? || 1984 || World's worst industrial disaster, more than 500 000 people exposed to methyl isocyanate ||
 * When did we discover the "hole in the ozone layer"? || 1985 || Progressing at an alarming rate nowadays :in the Arctic's and the Antarctica's stratosphere ||
 * Chernobyl? || 1986 || catastrophic nuclear accident in Ukraine ||
 * When was leaded petrol outlawed || 1986 || In Japan and USA. TEL in automotive fuel was phased out starting in the U.S. in the mid-1970s because of its cumulative neurotoxicity and its damaging effect on catalytic converters ||
 * Exxon Valdes spill? || 1989 || 40,900 to 120,000 m3 ||
 * Oil Spill during the First Gulf War (Kuwait)? || 1991 ||  ||
 * First "Earth Summit" ? || 1992 || In Rio ||
 * When did we start seriously worring about "Greenhouse gases"? || 1992 || The Earth summit in Rio (Tim's Answer) ||
 * When did it become illegal to discharge sewage into the ocean ? || 1993 || Since 1993, ocean disposal has been banned by international treaties ||
 * Kyoto protocol ? || 1997 || Commitment to reduce CO2 (and other GH) emissions ||
 * CFC production banned in EU || 2000 || Montreal protocol 1987 (to reduct drastically CFC production)
 * When were PCBs finally banned? || 2001 || By Stockholm convention (1979 by US Congress) ||
 * The concept of "Earth Overshoot Day"? || 2006 || (?) The moment when humanity's annual demand exceeds what the Earth can give. In 2015 : 13th August ||
 * Release of "An Inconvenient Truth" || 2006 || Al Gore's campaign to halt global warming ||
 * The world population reached 7 million || 2011 ||  ||

Posted on 15th November 2017 by Marie-Alice
Hello everyone, for this week, I would like to tell you about a great opportunity that comes to the eyes of Australian biologists. In fact, during the coming month of December, scientists speak of very favorable conditions for the reproduction of coral. They speak that it can be a sort of "second christmas" for them. This will allow them to recover the spawn and to be able to put them in culture and study them to understand in more details the optimal conditions for the corals. This becomes necessary since a large part of the reef is gradually dying and it's this same reef that protects the Australian coast from storms.

link : http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-10/researchers-race-to-capture-coral-spawn-to-boost-reef-resilience/9135164


 * Posted on 15th Nowember by Fanny**

Link : []

I have read this article which deals with the decline of plastic recycling in 2016. Indeed, 29.7 % of plastic bottles were recycling in 2016 rather than 31.1 % in 2015. This result is due to a decrease of material collected for recycling and an increase of the contamination of the recyclable products. This result is disappointing because polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the main component of plastic bottles, could be reused to make mews bottles or textile products as pillows and duvet.

In your opinion, what should we do to improve the situation?


 * Posted on 16th November by Mélanie**

Link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/08/i-feel-helpless-delhi-residents-on-the-smog-crisis

I read this article yesterday about Delhi's smog. I as horrifying because even if the smog is due to pollution, people continue to use their cars or they took taxis to go to work (but finally it's the same). It's a state of emergency, because children don't go to school and people who lead Delhi say that nobody go outside except if it's very very important. People who go outside, says that the air smells petrol and they feel that they can't breathe correctly. I'm quite worried because we live in Lyon and the polluted smog can happen here and I don't really know what can we do to reduce this.

Do you have an idea ?

__Answer to Fanny__ : To improve the recycling of plastic bottles, we can use a deposit. This is when you bring back your empty bottles at the shop and they do a promotion to pay another bottle with water. This can work with many wrappings !


 * Posted on 16th November by Nolwenn**

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/world/europe/radioactive-cloud-europe.html

Last week-end, I saw in the news that a radioactive pollution of ruthenium 106 has been detected in the south of France. Scientists said it probably came from Russia, but the Russian nuclear industry denied it. In fact, no one knows where this pollution really comes from. The two most likely explanations are that this radioactive substance comes from a facility treating used fuels, or from a plant producing exclusively ruthenium. This recent fact caught my eye because it highlights that we can't protect our planet or reduce pollution if we are not even able to know where pollution comes from.

What do you think ?


 * Posted on 17th November by Loïc**

In the theme of food waste here is a video denouncing the wastage in the supermarket which is still a lot of food. An analogy between cookies and global food is very visual to understand this problem.

Do you think that the supermarket could give this food to animal breeding or a center for people in need.

https://www.ted.com/talks/tristram_stuart_the_global_food_waste_scandal


 * Posted on 17th November by Loïc**

Nolwenn's article is scary to read if radioactive pollution is found in the south of France and we do not know where it comes from, it means that it can be everywhere. But until we have tried to find out whether they are there or not, we may live in contaminated areas without knowing it.


 * Posted on 17th November by Arthur**

[]

This article deals with the COP 23. It shows an optimistic look with some solutions. First, all cities ought to be powered only by renewable electrecity, then the writter presents infrastructures with low-carbon footprint. Finally, the cities network should be improved in order to reduce the carbon footprint.

Posted on 17th November by Valentin

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2017/11/17/trump-reverses-ban-elephant-trophy-imports/107761660/

Donald Trump reverses the ban about the import of elephant trophy. It makes a rise on the elephant hunting nevertheless on elephant extinction.


 * Posted on 18th November by Nolwenn**

__Answer to Marie-Alice__ link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/30/us-coral-reefs-global-warming-climate-change

This article from The Guardian explains that greenhouse gases released by human activity generate extra heat. This heat is mostly absorbed by the oceans, so the life conditions for corals will not improve. I think it is a good idea to understand better the optimal conditions for corals. But this will not prevent from extinction. What could help is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.


 * Posted on 18 th November by Fanny**

I’ve read the article proposed by Arthur about COP 23. I found the article very interesting because the solutions proposed are a good initiative to fight against climate change as the development of green transports and green spaces on building roof. Indeed, cities centers often lack of green spaces. However,I think that the aim of producing 100 % of green electricity is too much optimistic because nowadays, we are really dependant on nuclear power to produce electricity and renewable energy is not enough developed.


 * Posted on 19 th November by Tim**

Concerning the recent Rhuthium 106 contamination story, I am not worried about the levels of contamination, which are insignificant as far as health goes, at least here in Western Europe. We do not know the source because "someone" (a country) is not owning up to being the source, so we jsut get clues as the wind blows the radioactivity over our territory and by looking at recent weather patterns.

What this episode does illustrate is the importance of geo-politics in environmental affairs: Generally as science students, we don't pay enough attention to this side of the problem. Even if we had all the scientific and technological methods available at a reasonable price to solve environmental problems, things will not improve unless there is political will to make the changes necessary. To me this is the interest of Al Gore's film, because he is a politician.

See you this afternoon,

Tim

Posted on 20th November by Louis
Theme : Nuclear accident in Fukushima Link for the photos and the adress : http://www.speos-photo.com/fr/masamichi-kagaya-autoradiographie-effets-dieu-nucleaire/

The Japanese photographer Masamichi Kagaya crossed objects of the everyday life resulting from surroundings of Fukushima in the riddle of the autoradiography, a technique which reveals the ionizing radiation emitted by these objects transformed into radioactive sources. His exhibition "Autoradiograph – Works of Nuclear God " is now in Paris. The images and their full context are particularly striking for a complete awareness. I recommend it for you. Here is an extract : Found in 35 km of the power plant in 2014, this sheet of cypress still shows tracks of radioactive contamination. "It would seem that the radioactive cesium is passed on from a generation to other one of the cypress", observed the photographer.

This soccer ball finds in the city of Namie, but in 10 km only of the power plant. He reaches a level of radioactivity of 1200 cpm! "I was able to observe the difference of contamination between the various faces of the ball, between those exposed to the radioactive radiation and those not having been him.", said the photographer.

My question is : Do you think striking images are the best way to sensibilize people ?

Louis

Poster on 20th November by Louis
Theme : Coral reef and ocean acidification

Answer to Marie-Alice : How to better understand the optimal conditions for corals ?

Link : https://www.coral-reef-info.com/coral-reef-formation.html https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/coral07_importance.html http://rimg.geoscienceworld.org/content/54/1/151.full Here you can see the chemical mechanism which is used by polypes to produce their skeleton. It is very important to notice the key chemical reagent : CO2 solubilized in water as HCO3-. Furthermore, the graph with photosynthetic activity shows how photosynthesis and calcification (skeleton production) depend deeply on the CO2 concentration.

Louis

Posted on 22nd November by Marie-Alice
Hello everybody, today I would like to speak about the general balance sheet of the COP23, wich was already published by Arthur. Last week took place the 23rd conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change in Bonn, Germany. This article from the New York Times make a balance sheet about these days where associations, companies and governments were able to debate the current ecological issues. To resume it, many importnt issues still not resolved. In fact, there are progresses in gas effects but these efforts remain insufficient for our planet. Furthermore, the place of the futur of islands was treated. Leaders like the president of fiji islands, are very worried about the survival of their islands as they are the first directly affected by climate change and want that wealthy nations become more aware of the urgency. They also try to find fundings to help them from natural disasters caused by global warming. In conclusion, the world is still far from its climate goals and this COP 23 did not make any great progress and most of the important issues were postponed to COP 24 in Poland in 2018. Link : https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/climate/bonn-climate-cop23.html

Answer to Louis and Nolwenn : Thank you Louis for these details, and I really agree with you, but nowadays Coral reef is still dying and Coral is a very complex structur which is worth being studied more. And like it is written in your third link, Coral can show many other aspect of the ocean history and inderectly about our history. Thats why I would like to show this event and why I think It can be very important to scientists to participate at this event and continue studies on this so fragile and important amblyematic species. For your question, I don't really know how to better know the optimal conditions of coral but I hope that these scientists can do that for us ;) Nolwenn I agree also with you, It can be one of the way to save Corals ! And yes it's a good idea to speak about the influence of heat in the sea.


 * Posted on 23rd novembre by Valentin**

Hello everybody. I fund an article about the conditions of fishs’ Farm. I Think we are all woried about the animals who live on earth but what about the one who live in the sea ? They are animals too and I think we don’t care enough about them. Please read the article. Have a nice week.

http://fishcount.org.uk/farmed-fish-welfare/rearing-conditions-for-farmed-fish


 * Posted on 23rd November by Fanny **

Link : []

I’ve read an article which proposes a solution to recycle carbon dioxide and methane, the two main gases responsible of climate change. Thanks to a new catalyst, carbon dioxide and methane can be transformed into another gas which can be recycled to produce fuels and other chemicals products. The hope is that this new “supercatalyst” could decrease carbon dioxide amount in the atmosphere. Moreover, this new technology is easier and cheaper than other carbon capture technology.

In your opinion, is it an effective solution to struggle against climate change?


 * Posted on 23rd November by Nolwenn**

link: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/sci-tech/2017-11-23-polar-bears-crowd-on-russian-island-in-sign-of-arctic-change/

I read an article about polar bears and how the climate change affects them. In fact, the ice melt earlier each year so polar bears have to spend more and more time on lands. That means they have to find some food, and that highlights two major problems. The first one is that all the bears will not be able to find enough food on lands as the time goes on. The second one is that the bears come closer and closer to some villages, and it is a danger for humans.

What do you think we could do for polar bears ?


 * Posted on 24th November by Mélanie**

Answer to Nolwenn :

I read the article about polars beras and the danger of having them close to villages. I read an article too, about polar bears feast on a whale carcass in Russian's beach. And I am afraid that we can't do nothing for them because ice are melting and even if we stop ice melting, we can't give them an artic area to live. Plus, polar bears normally don't eat animals carcass, they prefere hunting ! And for me the big problem is that if polar bears come closer and closer to villages, they may hunt us !!

Link : https://www.livescience.com/60569-polar-bears-feast-on-whale-carcass.html


 * Posted on 24th November by Mélanie**

Link : https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_hessburg_why_wildfires_have_gotten_worse_and_how_we_can_stop_them

This week, I watch a video on TED Talks about wildfires. And I'm really concerned because fires are one of the numerous reasons of deforestation. Forest, 100 or 150 years ago, didn't look like forrests now ! Trees were more spaced and they hadn't dead woods on the soil because before, men cleaned forrest and picked the dead wood for fuel. But now, we cut down big trees and if there are parts of these trees we did't want because they are useless, woodcutters left these parts behind. And when a fire comes, there are more dead and dry woods and the fire can spread more easily !

Why woodcutters don't pick useless parts of tree ? And why wood company can't clean forrest after cutting down trees ?

Posted on 24th November by Louis
Theme : Oxygen producing organisms

Link : http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/12/important-organism/

Last week we taught about clearance and one of its dramatic consequences was said to be a vast fall of oxygen production. So I asked myself: Where does the oxygen we breathe come from? The distribution is quite surprising! Rainforests are responsible for roughly one-third (28%) of the Earth’s oxygen but most (70%) of the oxygen in the atmosphere is produced by marine plants. The remaining two percent of Earth’s oxygen comes from other sources. The ocean produces oxygen through the plants (phytoplankton) that live in it. These plants produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. I just remind you that photosynthesis is a process which converts carbon dioxide and sunlight into sugars such that the organism can use them for energy. One type of phytoplankton, Prochlorococcus, releases countless tons of oxygen into the atmosphere. It is probably the most abundant photosynthetic organism on the planet. According to Dr. Sylvia A. Earle from the National Geographic, Prochlorococcus provides the oxygen for one in every five breaths we take. Furthermore - and that is now the question I'm rising - experimental projects and engineering process are using micro-algae to produce biofuel for instance but they are also producing oxygen as a byproduct : Do you think we can replace forests by algae ?

Louis

Posted on 24th November by Loïc
I offer a tutorial today to speak with a septic climato without being angry. Social relations are indeed very important and it is necessary to convince the people of the world that our planet is bad. But nothing serves to get excited, thanks to this tutorial you can convince all without being angry.

Link : https://ideas.ted.com/how-to-talk-to-someone-who-doesnt-believe-in-climate-change/

Posted on 24th November by Loïc
__Answer to Louis :__

I found this articles very interesting, discover the functioning of the algae, the fact that they are unicellular, the different types of algae. I think that if there is already 70% of the oxygen that is produced by aquatic plants, we can increase the productivity of its plants. But I think we have another problem, which is the acidification of the oceans which will surely cause the death of many species of algae.

Posted on 25th November by Louis
Theme : Fight again climate denial

Answer to Loïc : How to speak with a septic climato without being angry

Link :http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0830515/plotsummary

To convince or to be persuasive that is the question. Should we use all the rhetorical weapons to reach a "good" aim supposed to be a better planet ? For me, if the global warming sceptism is a great problem, the controversial means used by politicians and NGOs in order to manipulate crowds are also ambiguous. I simply suggest you to watch Quantum of Solace.

Louis


 * Posted on 25th November by Fanny**

Ansewer to Nolwenn's question : "What do you think we cand do for polar bears ?"

The problem is that when ice is melting, we can’t go back. So we have to find solutions to avoid the situation get worse. I have found this article which proposes a solution: it’s a drone which is able to monitor polar bear behavior at an important level of detail. This could help scientists to understand the situation and how polar bears live. []


 * Posted on 25th November by Arthur**

Fun fact ! Now that marijuana is legal in most of USA, studies of its farming impact on the environment have been released. Some say that marijuana has a bigger impact on the landscape and on the biodiversity. []


 * Posted on 26th November by Nolwenn**

Answer to Fanny link: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_951_3.pdf

I think the "supercatalyst" is a good idea to struggle against gas emission. I also found an other way to use waste gases. It is an engine that produces energy with the waste gases. There is also a process to transform the greenhouse gas CO2 by molten electrolysis into carbon nanotube.

Posted on 22nd November by Marie-Alice
Hello everybody, for this week, I wil present you a short video from BBC news. We always speack about waste on earth but we rarely speack about rubbish in space. This little video shows this problem and announces the release of an upcoming robot with an answer to this problem. Enjoy

Link : http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/42151504/how-to-solve-the-problem-of-space-junk


 * Posted on 29th November by Fanny**

Subject: air pollution Link: []

At the moment, the city of New Delhi (India) is facing a high pollution episode. The article insists on the fact that air pollution shouldn’t be seen only as an environmental issue but also as a serious health issue. Moreover, pollution leads to economic problems such as an increase of health costs and a loss of growth domestic product (GDP).

In 2015 India had the higher number of death caused by pollution even if the government makes efforts to increase the use of solar energy and reduce the growth of coal-based power plants.

In your opinion, what should we do to reduce air pollution? Do you think that polluting is inevitable to develop?


 * Posted on 29th November by Nolwenn**

link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/27/controversial-glyphosate-weedkiller-wins-new-five-year-lease-in-europe

I read an article from The Guardian about the political european debate about glyphosate. Lately, the glyphosate weedkiller was authorized for 5 more years in Europe instead of EU citizens' petition. The glyphosate is probably carcinogenic, so it raises questions about modern farming techniques and about the safety of pesticides that are everywhere. However, glyphosate reduces the need to use other herbicides, ans it lowers carbon emissions and protects soil quality. Indeed, when farmers turn the soil over, it releases CO2. Using glyphosate, farmers need to turn the soil less often so it lowers carbon emissions.

In fact, this debate about glyphosate is more a political debate than an environmental one, don't you think ?


 * Posted on 29th November by Valentin**

Hi everybody, I found a very interesting video about wildfire, please enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Vayv9FCLM&t=414s

Answer to Nolwen : Nowadays each environmental debate is, at the same time, a political one. In that case, I think the political aspect is more important because it's an european debate so the countries have to be careful when they take position on the subject. I saw an article recently where they explain that the positive answer for the use of glyphosate by Germany did a big scandal in the country and Mrs. Merkel was very critized!


 * Posted on 30th November by Mélanie**

Theme : Process which absorbs CO2

Link : https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_kruger_can_we_stop_climate_change_by_removing_co2_from_the_air#t-522741

I watched this TED talks about how can we stop climate change by removing CO2 from the air. A geoengineering researcher, Tim Kruge has found a new process using natural gas to generate electricity in a way that take carbon dioxide out of the air. I found this process very intersting because CO2 is the gas responsible for greenhouse effect and ocean acidification and gobal warming, so if we can remove CO2 out of the air we can stop all these bad effects on our planet and may be who knows, we can save the Earth ?

So, my question is : Do you know an other way to reduce or remove CO2 out of the air ?


 * Posted on 30th November by Loïc**

In the movie about Al Gore we discovered that many article deny global warming. But there are also many blogs that are looking for the same thing. Even though a lot of scientific articles show the reality of global warming blogs use keystone domino theory to dismantle global warming. In this Guardian article, we have the explanation of this theory used by blogs. Many graphics illustrate the text to better understand the importance of these blogs that have no legitimacy.

Link : https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/nov/29/new-study-uncovers-the-keystone-domino-strategy-of-climate-denial


 * Posted on 30th November by Loïc**

Answer to Mélanie : I think the phrase "we need courage to try" summarizes this talk. I think it's not completely crazy to want to try to capture all the CO2 in the air but time that no one will take the initiative to be the first and maybe to fail then we'll never know if this way to reverse climate change can work. His new process using natural gas to generate electricity in a way that take carbon dioxide out of the air is very interesting. But we need someone to finance this project.

Posted on 1st December by Louis
Theme : Climate change and thunderstorms

Link : C.M. Taylor and al., Nature, 544, 475, 2017 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/04/26/huge-storms-in-northern-africa-have-tripled-since-the-1980s-scientists-blame-climate-change/?utm_term=.baeae24a8216 https://www.smhi.se/en/research/research-news/tripling-of-extreme-storms-in-west-african-sahel-area-due-to-global-warming-1.119792

Thunderstorms in Sahel are among the most powerful of the planet. Between 1982 and 2016, the rainfall became three times more frequent in the West-African Sahel area. The Sahelian thunderstorms being with difficulty simulated, the team of T. Vinschel of the Institute of Geoscience of Grenoble compiled 35 years of satellite observations over West-African Sahel, from Senegal to Niger. Then, the researchers cross checked these observations with the local rainfall data.

In these areas, 99 % of the precipitation occur during the monsoon (from June to September). Besides, the release of thunderstorms depends essentially on differences of temperatures of surface on both sides of the Sahelian strip.

The researchers observed that the total everyday rates of extreme precipitation had increased. According to them, the global warming causes modifications in air circulation and facilitate the emergence of thunderstorms in a zone lining the South of the desert. Floods in countries like Sierra Leone, Niger and Nigeria will become more and more frequent. So my question is : do you think we should protect Sahel against lack of water or excess of water ?


 * Posted on 2nd December by Nolwenn**

Answer to Loïc: Denier blogs are unfortunately very easy to find on the net and blog readers often trust these denier blogs more than traditional news. In fact, it is true that the medias often transform the information to attract better people's attention, so some people do not trust anymore the information sources. I think this is a political subject about medias and with the freedom of expression and of thought, we can not realy force people to listen what is right.


 * Posted on 3rd December by Fanny**

Comment on Marie Alice’s subject Link : []

I found the video interesting because we don’t think about space pollution as we don’t share this environment. But the consequences are really bad because rubbish can disrupt satellites. This article presents Space Debris Sensor from NASA which aim is to detect debris on the space which are too small to be detected from Earth.

Posted on 3rd December by Louis
Theme : CO2 time bomb and storage

Answer to Mélanie : Do you know an other way to reduce or remove CO2 out of the air ?

Links : ipcc.ch wmo.ch https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/news/ https://www2.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_science_pick/gas-hydrates-and-climate-warming/

Billions of tons of carbon are stored in Earth: in the frozen ground of the polar areas, in rain forests, in oceans or marine sediments. The balance of these deposits is jeopardized by the rise of temperatures. If ever these deposits are freed released, the global warming is going to race. The question of the storage of the CO2 is going to be fast overwhelmed by the activation of the following time bombs: 1 Permafrost (permanently frozen ground): Its melt releases CO2. It could lose 15 to 20 % of its surface by 2050 because of the warming near the poles. 2 Bogs (spongy grounds): if they dry out, the organic matter, protected by the water, is exposed to the air and degraded by bacteria which emit CO2 in quantity. 3 Human activities (very large-scale use of the fossil fuels): those activities are the main driver of the global warming. Their impact should increase again in the next 50 years. 4 Clathrates (unstable crystals on the ground of seas): they risk, under the influence of the reheating, to disintegrate and to free big quantities of methane 5 Oceans (a third of our CO2 emissions dissolves in the ocean): the solubility of the CO2 in the water decreases with the temperature. 6 Vegetation: the CO2 produced by human activity dopes the plant growth, which absorbs the CO2. However, heat, drought and deforestation risk to modify this process.

Louis


 * Posted on 2nd December by Arthur**

This video is dealing with Trophy Hunting and it shows how complex some environmental problems are. I ask you to be open-minded when watching this video because everything is not just black or white. This video was made by CollegeHumour which you probably know. [|Why Trophy Hunting Can Be Good for Animals]


 * Posted on 5th December by Nolwenn**

link: []

I read an article about self-driving vehicles which is the next revolution in transport. It appears that this revolution could be dangerous for the environment instead of reducing gas emission, it depends on the way it is developed. Self-driving cars will make travels faster and easier, and will reduce gas emission thanks to the use of electricity instead of gasoline. However, people will travel more often and further, so it will require more energy and produce more greenhouse gases. In fact, the impact of self-driving cars on the environment is very uncertain. What do you think of this ?


 * Posted on 6th December by Marie-Alice**

Today, I would like to speack about a subject wich is very important in my opinion : CETA. CETA means EU-Canada Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. The first link open to a video wich explain the first principle of this trade seen by contractors or politics from différents countries like Canada, France, Germany, Italy... This is a trade agreement wich entered into force on 21 september 2017. This trade makes easier the exports between Europe and Canada. But, what it is not explain in this video is that this agreement hides drawbacks like we can see in the second video, but in others videos too. This agreement could put in danger our democracy through alliances between companies and the states. They also provide for common standards. For example, Europe imposes that when there is a doubt about a product in relation to its dangerousness on the health or on the environment, it is prohibited to the sale (this made us the possibility to react very quickly to the epidemic mad cow). Canada is applying the opposite principle: they are waiting for the risk to be proven to prohibit distribution. We will then be able to see the import of meat (wich comes from canada) with their standards wich are very far from our own standards. This will hurt too European farmers who are already in crisis. This could put in danger our health, our environment, our economy and our democracy.

And you what do you think about that ? Do you think that we have the right to say something about that ?

First link : http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/ceta/ Second link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd_WQ21iKI8


 * Posted on 7th December by Fanny**

Link : []

In class, we spent time to talk about food waste and the impact of our diet on the environment. This article sums up the situation and explains that healthy eating is good for our body and can also reduce our impact on the environment. It explains more particularly the impact of meat overconsumption. Indeed, our diet has three consequences on the environment: the emission of greenhouse gases, the increase of land use and eutrofication which the accumulation of nutrients in water sources that can lead to toxic algae proliferation. In your opinion, how can we do to make people aware of the situation and incite them to have a better diet for the environment?


 * Posted on 8th December by Loïc**

I found this TED talks very interesting, it informs us of the danger we run to not take care of the bee. She explains why bees die so quickly since the Second World War, indeed in the United States the cultivation methods have changed we started to cultivate monoculture and began to use more and more herbicides. Bees use pollen as a natural disinfectant that keeps them healthy or if the pollen is contaminated with pesticides the bees are exposed to diseases.

But there are two ways to successfully keeping our bees, planting flowers and not watering them with pesticides.

link : https://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing/transcript#t-419051

Posted on 8th December by Louis
Theme : methane clathrates

Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rQkTBC0Rzo Methane hydrates (methane clathrates) are solid compounds where methane is literally trapped in water. The substance looks like ice and can be found deep on the ocean floor, locked under layers of sediments.

While hydrate resources look like an enormous boon to energy-starved nations like Japan, all that carbon and methane has climate scientists and advocates concerned. According to the green blogger Mat McDermott, developing methane hydrates would be « game over for the climate ». Methane hydrates contain more carbon than all the world's other fossil resources combined, according to U.S. Geological Survey estimates. If developed at a significant scale, hydrates would certainly be more than enough to cook the climate. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and even modest leakage rates could nix any potential climate benefit of burning gas from hydrates instead of coal. Depending on how cost-effective production of gas hydrates proves, this vast new fossil energy resource could lower energy prices worldwide. These lower prices almost certainly will lead to an increase in fossil-fuel consumption on an energy basis. But in principle, clean-burning natural gas from hydrates could also help displace coal consumption in places like China and India, just as cheap shale gas is now driving coal out of U.S. electricity markets. That scenario could potentially yield climate benefits and cleaner air (assuming the displaced coal stays in the ground and hydrates aren't used to simply prolong reliance on fossil fuels). To preserve any climate benefits of this hypothetical coal-to-gas shift, hydrate drillers would also have to be wary of letting methane leak out of hydrate deposits and into the atmosphere.

If technology to commercially extract gas from hydrates is developed, the implications for global energy markets are staggering. Do you think this kind of technology is « game over » for the climate ?


 * Posted on 8th December by Valentin**

Hello all, an article about wind power. Please enjoy

https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-power-controversy/


 * Posted on 9th December by Fanny**

Comment about Nolwenn's post

I don’t think that self-driving cars can solve the problem of the impact of transports on the environment. Even if these cars can decrease the energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases, people will be tempted to use it more frequently because they are convenient. Indeed, they don’t lose time in transports as they can do something else instead of driving. As a consequence we will have to produce more and more electricity to supply the cars and the amount of electricity produced by renewable energy might be not enough because we are really dependent on nuclear power to produce electricity. So we will have to use more nuclear power which is not environmentally friendly.


 * Posted on 9th December by Nolwenn**

__Answer to Fanny__: I think that the first way to make people aware of their diet begins at home with education. Parents should limit the quantity of food that kids are allowed to eat each day. But they must not ban a specific food or children will eat a lot of it when it is available. The other way is to keep regular meal times to discourage kids to graze during the day.


 * Posted on 10th December by Arthur**

Hello everybody, during Marie-Alice's presentation my thoughts went to a biomimetic building in Zimbabwe. I could not quit remember very well at the moment but I did some research and here it is : the termite building ! The architecture of this building has been made in order to make the building almost free from energy consumption.

[]

Posted on 10th December by Louis
Theme : Wind power Links : https://www.coastalreview.org/2016/05/14341/ https://www.marineinsight.com/environment/effects-of-noise-pollution-from-ships-on-marine-life/ Answer to Valentin :
 * [[image:https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*6B4b-wtU6mj69d3O05M40w.jpeg align="left" caption="Ocean Windmills behind the Marine Animals (Photo from Gazette News)"]] ||
 * Ocean Windmills behind the Marine Animals (Photo from Gazette News) ||

I've found your article exceptionally relevant. It's a complete vision of the current situation. I would have been happy to react to your feelings about this. Instead of that I react to this quote from the article : "Offshore wind farms are potentially one way of avoiding the noise issues linked to onshore wind turbines, but even here noise can be a problem, as sound propagates readily over water." Do you know if offshore wind farms are able to disturb migratory ways of birds ? Moreover, submarine wind farm are perhaps able to confuse marine mammals like delphins. Do you think wind power or see power used by such a technology are leading to huge damage ?

Posted on 11th December by Louis
Theme : Maslow's Pyramid - Needs For Lifestages






 * Posted on 13th December by Marie-Alice**

This week I would like to speak about orange peel which can help clean up dirty water Nowadays, the waters of our rivers and oceans are polluted. This document highlights this, by proposing a natural remedy to this ecological problem. This text is an article taken from the Inderscience Publishers in October 27, 2008, it deals with the problem of the dirty water. Algerian researchers have found a natural solution, orange peels, to decontaminate wastewater. Synthetic dyes are widely used in chemical industries. However, these wastes are released into the environment, particularly in water. Benaissa sought out and tested a natural alternative of the agri-food, orange peels, to eliminate various acid dyes present in the waste water. The advantage of this method is that it can be carried out at ambient temperature: 25 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, it requires a high concentration of orange peels to remove a small amount of colorants. After studies in the laboratory, orange peel is a new inexpensive, natural and abundant source. It is now necessary to extend this process on an industrial scale.

link : https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081020093500.htm


 * Posted on 13th December by Fanny**

Link : []

This video presents a way to decrease air pollution by planting trees in cities. In fact, they can improve air quality up to 15%. Even if it’s small, this average has a positive impact on human health. Some trees are better than others to decrease air pollution and the type of pollutants that can be absorbed depends on the type of trees. However, I was surprised to discover that some trees can decrease air quality! I let you discover why in the video.

Do you think trees are an efficient solution to clean the air?


 * Posted on 13th December by Nolwenn**

link: https://www.popsci.com/autumn-late-climate-change

I read this article who explains the impact of global warming on seasons. In particular, it affects the plants and leads to an increase of carbon dioxyde released in the atmosphere. So do you think plants could adapt to news seasons ?


 * Posted on 15th December by Mélanie**

Link : https://www.ted.com/talks/kate_stafford_how_human_noise_affects_ocean_habitats

I watched this video about oceans' noise. Kate Stafford, an oceanographer, talks about how humans and climate change affect oceans and sea animals. Artic used to be a silent area where whales can live in peace. But actually, they are many noise from the air, the sea and the land. The air : Because of wind and water, bubbles of air are made and when it blows up it makes a very huge sound. The sea : Many subartic animals come in Artic to live and make sounds that don't belong in Artic. Kate Stafford doesn't know why subartic animals come in Artic. The land : That means humans because with ice melting we have a tendency to cross the Artic with boats. Plus, there are more and more turism in this area. And boats make horrible noise for artic animals.

How can we reduce sounds/noise in water ?


 * Posted on 15th December by Melanie**

Answer to Fanny : Do you think trees are an efficient solution to clean air ?

I think that trees are not an efficient solution to clean the air because we produce too much CO2. Maybe, they can be efficient if we disappear. I saw this video about the Earth without humans and in the beggining we can see that human's disparition allows to explosion and animals' death but at the end the nature gets the upper hand. You can watch this very interesting video with this link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy7Q6wazD_E

Posted on 15th December by Louis TER OVANESSIAN
Theme : Fishing

Link : Dirk Zeller, West Australian University, University of British Comumbia

10 million tons of fishes are wasted every year. It is the result of the wasting practices of the global industry of fishing. In brief, this industry discards 10 % of the captured stocks for fishes are too small, damaged by nets, etc. In the 1980s, this figure peaked in 18 million. Do you think it can be considered as some progress?

Louis


 * Posted on 15th December by Loïc**

Link : https://www.ted.com/talks/jackie_savitz_save_the_oceans_feed_the_world/transcript

The world's population is increasing and growing faster and faster the oceans are one of the solutions to feed the growing population. But the oceans are in danger because of overfishing but this overfishing is severely controllable to laws. Jackie Savitz is here to explain to us how it is possible to ship smarter indeed since many years the world fishing is decreasing while the populations to feed are more and more numerous. It is possible according to her to increase by 100 million tons per year. Do you think that fish are one of our chances of feeding future populations ?


 * Posted on 15th December by Loïc**


 * Answer to Louis :** I think that there is too much fish wasted and that's why I looked for an article on how to save the oceans.


 * Posted on 16th December by Nolwenn**

link: []
 * Answer to Loïc:**

Fish farming can be a way to feed the future population. It just need to be done safely. Here is an article who explains, at the end, the innovations to develop a safe fish farming. First, fish farming should be developed as smalls ecosystemes to keep biodiversity. Moreover, fish farming could help saving coral reefs because farmed metal cages function as artificial reefs around which corals can develop. So we could feed the population with fish, and at the same time, save aquatic species.


 * Posted on 16th December by Fanny**

Answer to Loïc's question : Do you think thaht fish are one of our chances of feeding future populations ?

I think fish could be a solution to feed future populations but we don't have to rely only on fsh. Indeed, nowadays, we rely on meat and agriclture to feed the population and as a consequence, the methods used are not environmental friendly. So we don't have to do the same with fish because it could threat marine ecosystem. Moreover, if we consume lots of fish, breeding seasons won't be respected. So it won't be sustainable. So I think fish can be a solution but we have to include other ways to feed the population.