"The very thing that makes plastic items useful to consumers, their durability and stability, also makes them a problem in marine environments." Of the 100 million tons of plastic that are produced each year, about 10 percent ends up in our ocean. About 80 percent of this comes from the land, and the rest from ships and platforms. Most of this information was familiar to me already, but what I did not have any idea about was that trash that accumulates in the ocean actually becomes kind of like a "chemical sponge." This is incredibly dangerous to the marine life. They can concentrate many of the most damaging of the pollutants found in the worlds oceans such as the persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Any animal eating these pieces of plastic debris will also be taking in highly toxic pollutants. Because the pollutants become more dangerous and numerous as they go through the advancing levels of the food chain, humans who eat contaminated fish will eventually face some of the most harmful effects. If it is not incentive enough to help save the marine life, people should keep in mind how trash in the ocean will affect us.

This article talks about the increasing threat that ghost fishing poses to the marine environment. The article says that about 640,000 tons of discarded fishing gear gets added to the oceans yearly, which is about 10 percent of the world total of marine debris. According to a U.N report quoted in the article, lost or abandoned nets in the oceans can keep "ghost fishing" for years nonstop. The article further talks about some ways that ghost fishing can be prevented. Some countries have created and implemented the use of biodegradable traps that dissolve if they are in the water too long. in addition there are also traps created to let turtles swim out. In my opinion the world needs to start paying more attention to this problem because it is slowly, but surely going to destroy the marine community and will eventually also affect us. Awareness of the issue is the first step. Many people do not know what ghost fishing is and therefore they cannot help.

I was really interested in researching the topic of extinction and reading about how many living organisms are facing the threat of extinction. I found this article which talks about the time periods in the history of life on Earth during which large numbers of species have gone extinct. These periods are called mass extinctions and it seems that we are experiencing one as we speak. During the other five extinctions the main factors that caused them were either meteorites or large volcanic eruptions, but in contrast to that, the alarming decline of biodiversity leading to the current mass extinction is a result of five major human activities. -Habitat destruction -invasive/aliens species -Pollution. -Human overpopulation. -Over-harvesting (hunting, fishing, and gathering). It was alarming to find this out and I was wondering if anyone has any solutions to the problems. What can we do to no longer hurt the earth we live in?

The thought of ever encountering a Great White shark terrifies me, but it has been proven that this legendary shark is far more fearsome in our imaginations than in reality. Movies such as Jaws, have tainted our perception of these sharks. However, as increasingly more scientific research and evidence surfaces on these elusive predators, their image as "mindless killing machines" will begin to fade. This article reinforces what Jenna has talked about saying that though these sharks are curious by nature, they do not deliberately hunt humans. Humans are not and have never been their target. These sharks actually do something called "sample biting" then release their victims. Though still unsettling, humans must keep in mind that it is us who invade their environment and the sharks only confuse us for prey by accident. The article also states that most attacks are also non-fatal. With that said, I think it is beneficial for people to be aware that sharks are not out to get us and that we must help them survive. These sharks are becoming extremely endangered because people do not care about their survival. Overfishing, shark fin soup, and the problem of getting trapped in nets are killing them and a lot of people don't care because they think sharks are these awful creatures. Sharks merely do what they need to do to survive. I can say the same thing for most species, including us.

This article talks about El Niño's effects in the southeastern part of the Unites States and more specifically on the benefits of El Niño in South Florida, which was a topic discussed in class. As we know, El Niño has global impacts and some are negative, but some are beneficial.

To summarize a little of what the article talks about, El Niño typically brings above average precipitation to Florida, which can actually reduce the risk of wildfires. Wildfires are very common and dangerous to Florida as a result of the scorching temperatures that occur in these areas.
However, with higher rainfall, there is more risk of flooding, which is not so beneficial to our population.
furthermore, increased storminess across the Southern US increases the threat of severe weather in Florida.
In addition, the article talks further about more El Niño consequences across the entire southeastern US.

I found this article helpful because it clearly tells you the impacts and benefits of El Niño and about how it can affect Florida. Though most of El Niño's effects are harmful, the fact that it can reduce wildfires is perhaps the one good thing that can result from it.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tae/?n=enso

I have installed it, I just cannot figure out how to post with the toolbar. I will stay a little after class on tuesday to get your help. Thank you!

http://lightning.sbs.ohio-state.edu/geo622/paper_enso_McPhaden1999.pdf

The 1997/98 El Niño event was the strongest ENSO event on record with major climatic impacts felt all over the world. This scholarly article really does a good job at discussing the evolution and impacts of the event, but also detailing how it was possible to study this event in such depth. As a result of the the 10-year Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program, a new system of observing oceanic and atmospheric measurements designed to improve description, understanding,
and prediction of ENSO event variability was created. Called the "ENSO Observing System", it gave rise to the most comprehensive description of a major ENSO event.

This was just a summary of what the article gets into. I will discuss more in depth during my presentation about the impacts this event had around the world as well as the benefits of having better technology to study such events. I know Sarah speaks a little bit about the effects of El Niño in her diigo post, but I am getting more specific and covering one event in depth to give you a better understanding.
With that said, you could be thinking about what you would consider to be some of the benefits of having better technology to study these events, as I will discuss that in my presentation.

http://digitaljournal.com/article/298986

I found this article relevant to what we have been learning about in class not only regarding trenches and the ocean floor, but also regarding the topic of ocean exploration. This article really shows us how little knowledge we have about certain parts of the ocean, which is a topic of concern today that we have touched upon in class.

Though we have not talked so heavily on the topic of marine life in class, it is still interesting to know that a new species of fish was discovered in a trench that was believed to be uninhabited. During a mission that was part of a research project between the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab, the University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute, and supported by New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research, a new snailfish species was found in one of the Peru-Chile trench, living at a depth of 7,000 meters. This creature is shaped like a tadpole with a large head, tiny eyes and fins, and is about 25 cm long. Along with the snailfish other organism such as Cusk-eels and large crustacean scavengers were found living in this area, which is one of the deepest places on the planet.


One of the Scientists involved in the mission, Dr. Alan Jamieson said, "Our findings, which revealed diverse and abundant species at depths previously thought to be void of fish, will prompt a rethink into marine populations at extreme depths."

This mission proves the relevance of ocean exploration and leads me to further believe the need for more technology that will allow us to explore our planet in its entirety. We need to be concentrated on exploring the planet we currently live in order to be able to protect it for as long as we can.

This article in particular caught my attention because it demonstrates the significance of Google Ocean, which is an extension of Google Earth. The Google Ocean feature allows people to zoom in below the surface of the ocean and view the 3D bathymetry beneath the waves. Google Ocean has basically encouraged further exploration of the world's oceans because scientists began to realize how little they really knew about them. Google Earth for example, was previously unable to zoom in to specific points below the ocean surface.

Thanks to Google Ocean, scientists believe they may have found the lost city of Atlantis. Google Ocean uses a combination of satellite images and marine surveys to map the Ocean and the contents beneath. Apparently it may have also been responsible for helping to discover a site too vast and organized to be man made. Located 620 miles off the west coast of Africa near the Canary Islands on a site called the Madeira Abyssal Plane (a location for Atlantis that was once suggested by the great philosopher Plato), it is in the shape of a perfect rectangle. It is the size of Wales and lies on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. On the Google Ocean feature it appeared as a bunch of criss-crossing lines, looking like a map of a vast metropolis enclosed by a boundary.

Though Google today claims that the criss-crossing lines were sonar data collected as boats mapped the ocean floor, the blank spots between the lines could still not be explained.

Much debate has taken place on what Google Ocean really showed and wether that site is natural or in fact man made. What is quite clear however, is that the blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we still really know about the world's oceans.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2255989.ece

Lindsey I absolutely agree with you! Instead of concerning ourselves with the sun's explosion and destruction of our earth 5 billion years from now, we should concentrate on trying to preserve the earth and the ecosystems we have now, or its likely that they will not even survive to see the planet blow up anyways! With that said, I also think that the lack of technology has been a limiting factor in the exploration of the mariana trench, but it will not be for very long. Technological advancements are surfacing as we speak. I found an interesting article for example, that speaks directly about the vessel they used to explore the challenger deep. called Nereus, It is actually a deep-sea robotic vehicle, also called a hybrid because it is remotely operated. Interestingly enough it dove to 10,902 meters on May 31, 2009, in the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench making it the the world's deepest-diving vehicle as well as the first vehicle to explore the Mariana Trench since 1998. As you can see, it is a question of patience. New technology will surface in the near future that will further our exploration of our earth. If we can reach the moon, we can certainly reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep.

http://geology.com/press-release/deepest-part-of-the-ocean/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-sun-will-eventually-engulf-earth-maybe

As part of the research for my group's presentation, I found an interesting article that discusses what is likely and also not likely to happen to our Earth a couple of billion years from now. Some Scientists claim that about 5 billion years from now our earth will eventually be engulfed by the sun. More specifically, some believe that earth will be destroyed when the Sun reaches its red giant phase and expands to its maximum capacity, causing its surface to extend beyond Earth's orbit by about 20 percent and shine about 3,000 times brighter. With that said however, there are some scientists that are optimistic about earth's future, saying that there is a chance that the earth may survive the sun's red giant phase. One theory suggests that though the sun will expand beyond Earth's orbit, it will also loose mass along the way causing Earth to drift outward as the gravitational tug lessens over time. According to this theory, the Earth could then escape "solar envelopment." More recent theories however all conclude that earth is in fact doomed.

In my opinion, Whatever earth's fate may be 5 billion years from now, there is no point in worrying about something that we have no control over. I suggest that we concentrate on the need to help our more immediate threats that earth faces such as the increase in pollution of our ecosystems, the decrease in natural resources, the decrease in water supply, and many more. These are ultimately, the things that are affecting us right now and can even lead to our destruction in the near future.

Well, as of now this is not very realistic and purely hypothetical. With the technology we have now the possibility of life elsewhere is barely conceivable. Some of the most important limiting factors that prevent us from colonizing other planets include the amount of solar energy and water available. Considering Also that when the sun reaches the red giant phase, it will likely destroy most of the planets that we know of today, colonization on Mars for example, would not be of any benefit to us. Humans would need to discover other planets or moons to colonize that would extend far beyond the sun's reach during its red giant phase. If they do find new worlds to colonize, they would also have to make a space craft that would be able to get us there. As of now, no such craft exists that could allow us to travel so far across the solar system. However, seeing as technological advances occur daily, who knows what we can one day achieve especially considering that in 2005 NASA Administrator Michael Griffin identified space colonization as the ultimate goal of current spaceflight programs.
he said,

"if we humans want to survive for hundreds of thousands or millions of years, we must ultimately populate other planets. Now, today the technology is such that this is barely conceivable. We're in the infancy of it. ... I'm talking about that one day, I don't know when that day is, but there will be more human beings who live off the Earth than on it. I know that humans will colonize the solar system and one day go beyond."