That Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy

The water regulations on tap water is so out of date that the water that we are drinking can cause serious health risks. There are only 91 contaminents that are being regulated by the Safe Drinking Water act but there are over 60000 chemicals in the water. Many Americans have been exposed to harmful chemicals in the water and many have also become sick do to the unhealthy water. Also becasue of the rise in the pollution levels more toxic chemicals have been put into the water. These chemicals do not get stopped in the water treatment becasue they are not regulated do to the out of date Safe Drinking Water Act.
I think that it is bad that the govenrment does not do anything to try and change the current law so they need to regulated the water better. If they do not more and more people will keep getting sick from it. If tap water is legal they need to make it safe for the public who is drinking it.
Charles Duhigg
December 16, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/us/17water.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Seas Grow Less Effective at Absorbing Emissions

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution the Earths oceans have been absorbing carbon dioxide from fuel emissions. But recently the oceans have become less efficient at absorbing these carbon dioxide emissions. Since the 1950's the oceans have been a good carbon dioxide sink for us but since the 1980's it has been slowing down proving that it will not be able to last forever. The more carbon dioxide the ocean absorbs the more acidic it becomes and then the less it will end up being able to absorb. Even though the human carbon dioxide emissions have increase the carbon dioxide sink in the ocean has become less and not increased like expected.

It is bad that we need to use our own oceans as carbon dioxide sinks because we are producing to much green house gases. If the ocean is slowing down in absorbing carbon dioxide emissions it is just showing us that we need to cut back on the amount of carbon dioxide that we are putting into the air. We need to cut back and try to restore the oceans to what they where 50 to 60 years ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/science/earth/19oceans.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Sindya N. Bhanoo

November 18 2009

Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash

In a spot in the pacific ocean about 1000 miles off of the coast of Hawaii there is an area of trash twice the size of Texas floating. It is said that the area of trash is doubling in size every decade that humans pollute the ocean. Scientist say that this area of trash is only one of five trash piles throughout our oceans. Many toxic chemicals and plastics are put into the ocean and fish and other marine life are eating it. There are many reasearch teams that are now testing the materials in the garbage patch to test the amount of toxic materials in it.
I think that it is terrible that there can be so much trash that is pilling up in our oceans. If we dont want all of the plant and animal life in the ocean dying off we need to stop polluting the ocean so we do not put more toxins in the oceans that what we already have. We should also attempt to do a clean up of the oceans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
Lindsey Hoshaw
November 9, 2009

Carefully Cleaning Up the Garbage at Los Alamos

In Los Alamos there is a project going on to clean up a six acre dump site that is sixty-five years old. This dump site has become part of the six million dollar stimulus deal to try and clean up toxic waste from the nuclear arms race. Almost 73000 people have signed up to get jobs to clean up Los Alamos. Toxic waste was dumped here during the Manhattan project so there is a need to try and clean up the area.

It is good that the government is worried about trying to clean up an area so that there is no longer waste there. It shows that the government cares about having a good clean environment and they want it to be clean.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/us/24alamos.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Michael Cooper

October 23, 2009

Energy Star Appliances May Not All Be Efficient, Audit Finds

The energy deparment has finished there audit and they found that some manufactures that put the energy star label on there products may not have meet the requirments for it. This means that companies are falsly putting the labels on there products. People have been buying the energy star products to save money and they will now figure out that they may have not of been saving any money at all. In 2007 the government said that they would do a check to make sure that everyting with the sticker was truely diserving of it. Now there is a new thing out that will find the best 5 percent of the energy star products.
I think that it is bad that companies are lying to make it so that more people will buy there products. The govenrment should do checks on this to make sure that businesses will not be able to pull this off.
Matthew L. Wald
October 18, 2009

Local Assaults on the Global Climate Problem

This month the mayor of Mesa Arizona became the 1000 leader to sign a climate change bill that was presented at the United States Conference of Mayors. In this treaty the mayors have agreed to cut there emissions with the help from the Kyoto treaty that was sign by the United States. Many cities will not be able to meet the goal that was set by the treaty but it is still an attempt to make things better in our large and small cities. Metric cities consume 50 percent of more of the planets energy resources and contribute to as much as 80 percent to greenhouse gas emissions.

I think that it is good that cities in the United Sates are trying to contribute to cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that they put out. Also it is good becaues more cities will see what they are doing and they will do the same thing and that will really help in the cutting of greenhouse gases the United States.

Tom Zeller Jr.

October 18, 2009

It’s Fish vs. Lawns, Not North vs. South

In the Bay Area counties in California people have been using water from canals around there homes. Because the people need the water to wash there cars and water there lawns these canals have been dammed for the people. The California legislation have been arguing to try and find a solution to save these canals and the fish that live in them. But the people in these areas are fighting so that they can keep there rights to using the water from this area and to keep the dams that where put in.

I think that it is bad that we are damming off areas of canals so that people can get there water. They should be able to limit there water supplies so that they will no longer need to dam the rivers and canals off. They should stop putting new dams in and just keep the ones that they already have in.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/science/earth/18sfpolitics.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Daniel Weintraub

October 17, 2009

Walruses Suffer Substantial Losses as Sea Ice Erodes

Walruses have just recovered from an half century of being over hunted when a new even greater threat now threatens there existence. There is a decrease of coastal sea ice that walruses normally lay on so they are now migrating to the rocky shores of the United States and Russia. With the sea ice melting the walruses have become very cramped on the shores where they are now going to. Because of the over crowded shores a large amount of walruses have been found dead do to being trampled and crushed.
I think that it is bad that because of humans causing global warming that we are effecting other animals and slowly killing them do to the raising temperatures. We need to try and reverse the effects of global warming so we can save the populations of animals that have been effected by global warming.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/science/earth/03walrus.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
Andrew C. Revkin
October 2, 2009

U.S. Blocks Oil Drilling at 60 Sites in Utah

The Department of Interior stopped oil drilling in sixty out of seventy seven drilling sites located in Utah. The seventy seven sites cover around 100000 acres of land in eastern and southern Utah. Drilling for oil in these spots has a potential of harming the wildlife in the area where they are drilling and had to be stopped. Conservation groups had sued the companies in charge and hope that they will soon stop drilling in all of the seventy seven areas.
I think that it is good that the new Obama administration is trying to do things to save the environment and the wildlife in it by undoing things that where put in place through the Bush administration. Also if there is no reason to drill for oil we should not do it because it takes a lot of land to do it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/science/earth/09leases.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
John M. Broder
October 8, 2009

China Sees Progress on Climate Accord, but Resists an Emissions Ceiling

Earlier in the week China has agreed to come up with a plan to reduce greenhouse gases this year. China now produces more carbon dioxide than the United States and together these two countries produce 40 percent of the pollutants that account for global warming. Chinas foreign minister Yu Qingtai showed a list that shows what China is going to do to limit their greenhouse gases emissions and one way they are going to do this is to have 15 percent of Chinas energy to come from a renewable energy source. By 2020 China has committed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent. I think that it is good that China is trying to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to slow down global warming. Now we just need to get as many countries in the world as we can to cut their green house gas emissions because that is the only way we can slow down and stop global warming.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/world/asia/06china.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Michael Wines

August 5, 2009

Arctic Shortcut Beckons Shippers as Ice Thaws

With Global Warming speeding up the Arctic ice is quickly melting and retreating. Now that the ice is melting ships are hopping that they will be able to find a shorter route to transport their goods in shorter time. The warming temperature in the waters during the summers has caused all of the ice to retreat away from the coast of countries so now boats are able to transport their goods faster with the shorter paths they now have. I think that it is bad that shipping companies like the melting ice because it makes for shorter times to transport their goods. It is our fault that the water is warming up and melting the ice. We have to try to stop it and not use it so we can move things faster.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/science/earth/11passage.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Andrew E. Kramer and Andre C. Revkin

September 10, 2009