Quarter 1, Article 10

1. EPA and US Customs and Border Protection Team Up to Enforce Clean Air Act

2.

Chapter 19; Air Pollution

3. This article deals with a global issue.

4. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are working together to make sure that all vehicles and engines such as sports cars and motorcycles being brought into the United States meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act. According to Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, "Importing vehicles and engines without proper pollution controls is bad for human health and the environment, and unfair to those companies that play by the rules. Americans deserve products with emission controls that comply with our nation’s environmental laws." The CBP will investigate and inspect all engines and vehicles being brought into the united states to make sure they comply with the regulations. The ones that are not fit to the standards of the clean air act would be seized by the CBP.

5. I think this is a great idea because this can greatly change the amounts of emissions we release in the united states because if all countries that want to bring in foreign vehicles must comply with our standards, they might as well make all cars by those standards for everyone all over the world. If all countries do this, our geological footprint would be a lot smaller and can even change the global warming crisis. Laws like these are the ones that will have the greatest impact on our future, by decreasing the human population has on the environment.

6.compliant-obeying, obligating/ manufactured or produced in accordance with a specified body of rules

Quarter 1, Article 9

1. Lead in Lipstick Not Such a Myth After All

2.

Chapter 18: Environmental Health Hazards and Human Health

3. This article deals with a national issue

4. Many women have been getting chain emails about certain amounts of lead being in various types of cosmetics and that if you used these cosmetics you would get cancer. Most people believed that these emails were all lies and jokes. Although women do not have to worry about getting cancer they do have to worry about brain damage, nerve disorders, infertility, and other neurological concerns. It is because of these emails that the United States government decided to investigate cosmetics. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics ran a series of tests and found that 61% of the 33-brand name lipsticks had detectable traces of lead and one of three of them exceeded the amount of lead that the FDA set as a ingestible limit. The FDA ran its own tests and found that the most popular lipsticks had the highest amounts of lead. Because of all this the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 was brought into congress in July. If passed as written, it would require manufacturers to disclose harmful ingredients in personal care products, and phase them out over time, while also creating an adequate safety standard and equipping the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors with the funding necessary to step up inspections and oversight.

5. I think it is extremely important that the brands disclose how much lead and other harmful substances are in their product because the consumer should know what is going into the things that they are using. Especially lipstick, because lipstick is used on your mouth and there is the possibility of swallowing the product it is important to know that you are not bringing harmful substances directly into your body. It is also important because many young kids get their hands on lipstick and some even eat lipstick by accident and if they ingest a large amount of lead their bodies can be seriously harmed.

6. Carcinogen- any substance or agent that tends to produce a cancer

Quarter 1, Article 8

1. Radiation in your tap water

2.

Chapter 21: Water Pollution

3. This article deals with a regional issue.

4. Studies were done all throughout Texas and found that the water that came from the gulf coast was highly polluted with a type of radiation that is extremely dangerous when ingested. It is called the alpha particle. Drinking water with any amount of alpha particle raises your risk of developing health risks and in some cases, cancer. The alpha particles can damage a person's DNA and can mutate it's cells. Once the alpha radiation enters your body the health risks immediately begin to rise. The more contaminated water you drink the more harm it does to the body.

5. I believe that this is extremely dangerous because the people that are drinking the water in the areas where its contaminated most likely do not know that their water is contaminated and continue to drink it and cause serious health problems. I think that people should also use filters if they are going to drink tap water, because then they can be sure that their water is free of any type of radiation or toxic chemicals that can be in their water. This is extremely dangerous for any children that drink water, because their body may not be able to handle that alpha radiation and can cause them to have serious mutations.

6. radionuclides- A nuclide that has artificial or natural origin that exhibits radioactivity

Quarter 1, Article 7

1. Shining Light on the Cost of Solar Energy

2.

Chapter 24: Economics, Environment and Sustainability

3. This article deals with a global issue.

4. The cost of solar electricity was extremely high and has decreased in the last 10 years which has increased the amount of people using solar panels from 25,000 to 500,000. The cost varies based on the technology being used, and on where it is being installed. The situation looks much different in Phoenix, Arizona, than it does in Albany, New York, and looks much different in Seville, Spain, than in Leipzig, Germany. Figuring out the levelized cost requires a number of guesses: How well the solar energy system will perform, how long it will last, and even how much sunshine it will get over the next 30 years. Each person makes different guesses and it is difficult to say which person is correct. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that solar electricity is the most expensive form of electricity among current technologies. It costs more than double the total levelized cost of wind, and almost four times the cost of conventional coal.

5. I think solar energy should be a lot cheaper because then more people would be able to afford it and actively use it which would benefit everyone and especially the environment. If it continues to cost so much places will continue to burn fossil fuels for energy instead of using the sun which gives off plenty more energy.

6. consensus- majority of opinion or general agreement

Quarter 1, Article 6

1. Polar Bears Turning to Goose Eggs to Survive Warming?

2.

Chapter 20: Climate Change

3. This deals with a regional issue

4. Polar bears typically eat seals until the ice melted, and since global warming has made the ice caps melt 2 weeks earlier than usual (In the end of June instead of the normal middle of July) the polar bears stop hunting for seals. Instead they find goose eggs to eat and eat those. This may seem like a bad thing because if the polar bears continue to eat the eggs they may drastically change the population of the geese. Although research has shown that since the population of the geese is so widely distributed and highly populated the polar bears aren't effected them, but rather helping them and limiting the number of geese. They also get a lot of nutrients from the eggs. If a polar bear its 88 eggs, they get the same amount of nutrients as if they were to eat one seal. But in time this may have an effect on the geese population and maybe bring them to extinction, because then the polar bears will all just eat the eggs and not eat seals anymore.

5. I think it is good that the polar bears have an alternative food source since their regular food source has changed because of our human impacts on climate. But I feel like the geese population will become extinct eventually because if the temperature keeps inclining then the polar bears will just start eating the eggs and then the population will become extinct and the seal population will start to increase. I think the best way to fix this problem would be for us to change our lifestyles a little bit to stop global warming, because it could be one little step for us that would change the lives of different populations.

6. migratory-periodically migrating

Quarter 1, Article 5

1. New Era of Taxis

2.

Chapter 16: Nonrenewable Energy

3. This article deals with a global issue.

4. Taxi cabs burn a lot of fossil fuels and release greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, since taxi cabs are extremely necessary in cities like New York City and Chicago, it is irrational to get rid of all the cabs or reduce the number of cabs. But taxis cause a major threat to our earth, we need to find an alternative way to minimize the amount of greenhouses gases emitted through taxis. Many car companies like Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen have created hybrid electric taxis that can travel 200,000 miles without needing to be recharged. Many areas all over the world have introduced this idea of hybrid taxis. For example, San Francisco where hybrid represent almost 50% of its taxicab fleet as of March 2010, and New York City where hybrids taxis represent around 28% of the total fleet by mid 2010.

5. I think these hybrid taxis are an extremely good thing. People in cities use taxis all day and all night, the amount of gases they release in the atmosphere is most likely a ridiculous number because they are not environmentally friendly cars. Now that there are hybrid cars, we won't have to use gasoline constantly all over the world. This could drastically reduce our geological footprint. I think all cities and places that frequently use taxi's should make it mandatory to use these new hybrid cars.

6. Conventional-Conforming or adhering to accepted standards.