Hey guys! Welcome to my APES BLOG!!!
You are required to maintain a blog throughout the school year for each unit we study. Please take a moment to set up your blog using blogger. Feel free to personalize your blog as little or as much as you would like. I'm not concerned about the format, only that the content is there. After you have set up your blog, please complete your first assignment. An example is provided for you below. Your blog may be as public or private as you would like, the only requirement is that I have access to view it. Please share your blog with me with your first assignment completed by Friday August 28th (A and B day students).Assignment: Your task is to find a current event (within the last 12 months) that relates to one of the topics covered in pages 3-14 in your text book. Post the link to the article that you find (btdubs- make sure this comes from a reputable news source) and then comment below the article giving me a summary of the article and tying it in to our four BIG PICTURE topics. Forgot those already?? Human Impact, Environmental Impact, Economic Impact, and Government Legislation.
Example:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/07/24/mass-extinction-study/13096445/
Summary- this part should be a summary of the article posted above and not opinion based (posted 7/24/14) Scientists are warning that the Earth could be in the midst of a 6th mass extinction. Studies show that although the human population is growing rapidly, many populations, especially those of invertebrates, are in rapid decline. While larger species typically get most of the attention when the topic of extinction arises, the loss of lower level consumers can have a much larger impact as they play a critical role in terrestrial and aquatic food chains. Earth has experienced 5 mass extinctions throughout it's history, the last being around 66 million years ago when the dinosaurs went extinct. Previous extinctions are typically contributed to meteorite impacts with the earth and massive volcanic activity. Scientists believe the difference between previous extinctions and the current mass extinction is the introduction of anthropogenic or human activities such as overhunting, climate change and habitat destruction. Scientists believe that plants and animals are dying out at least 1,000 times faster than they did previously due to these human activities.
This is where you take information from the article and apply it to what you have learned in class
Human Impact- human activity such as urban and agricultural development has had a huge impact on species viability over the last few centuries resulting in a potentially catastrophic decline in the number of species on earth. When we alter the ecosystems by building new structures or introducing pollutants into the air and water, this effects biodiversity of the ecosystem because these organisms must either adapt, move to another location or go extinct.
Environmental Impact- Loss of a seemingly minor species, like an insect, can have a potentially detrimental effect on an ecosystem because these species are all part of a larger food web. The "little" species is more than likely a food source for a larger species. If that food source is depleted, it will ultimately effect all higher level consumers within this food web leading to an overall loss of biodiversity within the ecosystem.
Economic Impact- Loss of biodiversity can have an economic impact in a multitude of ways. Tax money is spent to protect these endangered species. Jobs can be lost and gained in this process. Jobs created by the conservation efforts as a well as jobs lost in areas where biodiversity has been effected. These could include jobs in the tourism industry and agriculture.
Government Legislation- The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973 in an effort to protect and recover declining species and their ecosystems. These laws are enforced by the US fish and wildlife service (primarily terrestrial organisms) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (primarily aquatic organisms).
