"Colorado River water policy faces an age of limits"

Scientists are expecting a significant reduction in flow for the Colorado River. The fundamental problem is with the Colorado River Basin. Six species are already threatened or endangered due to invasive quagga mussels. The Colorado has severe water quality issues leading to a shortage of surface water. Hence communities are starting to mine groundwater. Agriculture is expected to take an immense hit from this. I found this article dismal yet extremely informative.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_14921852

unit review

5 major sources of oil spills:
-natural seeps
-extraction
-transportation/tankers
-pipelines
-runoff

4 short term effects of oil spills:
-reduction of light transmissions
-reduction in dissolved oxygen
-damage to marine birds
-toxic effects to marine environments

2 long term effects:
-block taste receptors causing fish to eat harmful things
- it can concentrate poisons

Methods of cleanup:
-booms or barriers--used to contain the oil spill
-skimmers-- skim oil off surface and into boats
-sorbents--used to soak up and contain spill
-chemical dispersants--used to degrade the oil
-flames-- used to burn oil

Dow Life Earth Run for Water

On April 18th, the DOW Earth Run for Water is a charity run that had tens of thousands of participants around the world. The run is an event that celebrities and civilians alike could participate in. The purpose of the run was to raise awareness to the fact that we need to have cleaner water. Tonight on Bravo there is a special show to highlight the current water crisis through out the world. This year the run went very well, so they hope to do it next year too.

New species of killer whales

A new study has found strong genetic evidence which points to the presence of several different species of killer whales in the world's oceans. The research has appeared in the journal Genome Research.Scientists have suspected for some time that there was more than one species of killer whales because of differences in behaviour, feeding preferences and subtle physical features. But until now DNA analysis has been inconclusive because of the inability to map the entire genetic picture, or genome, of the whales' mitochondria inherited from the mother. As a result of the study, two types of killer whales in the Antarctic that eat fish and seals, respectively, are suggested as separate species, along with mammal-eating "transient" killer whales in the North Pacific.

http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_several-new-species-of-killer-whales-likely-to-be-found-in-oceans_1374822

Evolution of Earth Day

Earth Day began 40 years ago as a day to recognize the environment. 40 years ago, there was no talk of global warming or the green movement. Rather, the original purpose was to emphasize ecology and the power of cleaning up litter and pollution. Before earth day, Americans were rather uninformed about the environment other than a few radical environmentalists. Today, the green movement is sweeping the nation. Today, major environmental organizations like the EPA and WWF hold events to raise awareness. Also, major companies like UPS, P&G and Wells Fargo sponsor Earth Day events. Over the past 40 years, Earth Day has evolved from a hippie event to a major environmental awareness day.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hRQcGJRPZAitgVuKGUNrYVYm0hAgD9F8CFL00

More Oil Spills

A few days ago a large oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. The major concern for everyone is making sure all the workers are safe. The majority of the workers were able to evacuate unharmed, and with only 11 people missing. It is believed that those 11 did not make it out in time but searches are still going on. Second to the human issue is the amount of crude oil released. At this time officials are unsure if the spill will be detrimental or if they can clean in up in time. Unfortunately it is still unknown as to caused the explosion, but officials speculate that it was because of worker negligence.

Feel free to head over to http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/22/oil.rig.explosion/index.html?hpt=T1 for a video of the explosion.

dEaD zOnEs

There is a problem that commonly plagues bodies of water called "Dead Zones." These are zones that have no life in them and that is why they are called dead zones. Dead zones can occur due to a slew of reasons. One being eutrophication. This is when there is not enough dissolved oxygen in the water for fish to live. This depletion of oxygen occurs because there are too many nutrients in the water and this causes bacteria to grow out of control and then the bacteria that eats this eats up all the oxygen as well causing fish to die. This is why they are called dead zones is because all the fish die. There are other reasons for these zones of no life. Another being algal blooms. These can be poisonous blooms of an algae that usually occurs because there is a change in temperature or too many nutrients. This can poison the fish and cause them to die. It can also poison humans so it is important to not eat seafood that comes from a poisonous algal bloom.