Quarter 2, Article 4

1.Oyster Businesses Still Plagued By Gulf Oil Spill

2.

Chapter 9: The Human Population and Its Impact

3. This article deals with a regional environmental.

4.The severe oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, devastated not only the millions of species living in that area but also the economy. Most of the species has been improving and rebuilding itself, although; the oyster species has not been as successful as other species. The state of Louisiana built up berms to keep the oil from reaching the fragile wetlands where the oysters were. These berms were not very effective because two of the berms cut right through oyster beds. One oyster harvester says that 20 percent of his oysters have been buried or smothered by drifting sediment. This harvester is worried that people will start to shy away from eating seafood because of the damage done in the gulf.

5.I feel terrible for the oyster harvester, His life was greatly effected by the oil spill as well as the oysters. I think we should put them on the threatened species list in order for it to grow and flourish and be as numerous as it was before the spill before the harvester can harvest any more of these oysters..

6. berm- a horizontal surface between the exterior slop of a rampart and the moat.

Quarter 2, Article 3

1. Fishing is Restricted to Help Sea Lions

2.

Chapter 11: Sustaining Biodiversity:The Species Approach

3. This article deals with a regional environmental issue.

4. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will place restriction on commercial fishing for Atka Mackerel and Pacific Cod off parts of Alaska's Western Aleutian Islands. This is being done to help protect the declining population of the Steller Sea Lion. Researchers say that the sea lion population has declined about 45 percent from 2000 up until the year 2008. The suggest that this is primarily due to the shortage of food for the sea lions. The sea lions can eat up to about 6 percent of its 1000 pound body weight daily in fish. If these fish are continually over hunted the sea lion will have to resort to a different food source if available. On average commercial fisherman took about 2.6 billion pounds of fish in this past year. Although it may have a bad economic effect, the lives of sea lions are in danger and needs to be fixed.

5. I think it is great that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has noticed the decline of the sea lions and is actively doing something about it. It is important to make sure that all species are surviving at a substantial amount, because once these species become threatened it is extremely difficult to get the species to flourish as they did before. So it is crucial that we do something about these sea lions before it is too late.

6. faring- To turn out, to happen

Quarter 2, Article 2

1. Global Warming Burning Up Lakes?

2.

Chapter 9: Human Population and It's Impacts

Chapter 20: Climate Change and Ozone Depletion

3. This article deals with a global environmental issue.

4. In the past 25 years, lakes all over the world have been increasing in temperature by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit, this increase is about seven times faster than the increase of air temperature. This is extremely important because lakes are very sensitive to change and can not easily adapt to the temperature. Even a small change in the water temperature has a dramatic effect on the lake. For example, in many lakes the warmer waters could kill many species of native fish, clog the water with algae and expose fish to very toxic pollution. Even the slightest temperature change increases the amount of algae within the lake. This is called Eutrophication. The algae covers the top of the lake which calls for less sunlight entering the lake which kills off many plants. The warmer waters reduce oxygen in the lake which can kill off entires species of fish. With the death of many native fish, many nonnative fish can come in and thrive in the lake. They fill the niche that the native fish can no longer maintain. These nonnative fish prefer warmer water.

5. I think this is a very important issue that is occurring in my time period. Our overuse of greenhouse gases and not taking proper care of our environment directly leads to the death and possible biological extinction of hundreds of species not only in the united states but all throughout the world. I think it is extremely important that we understand and realize what we are doing to habitats all over the world and do something to change the way we live before more and more species go extinct and once that occurs we can never get those species back

6. Equatorial-of, pertaining to, or near an equator, esp. the equator of the earth.

Quarter 2, Article 1

1.Mercury Poisoning Makes Birds Act Homosexual

2.

Chapter 21: Water Pollution

3. This article deals with a regional environmental issue.

4. An excessive amount of mercury has entered the food chain of white ibises has effected their mating behavior drastically. Studies show that the male ibises that had excessive mercury intake chose other males instead of females as their mating partners. They did everything a normal male and female would do even though they produced no eggs. The mercury has made its way into the food chain by industrial processes such as waste incineration. A controlled experiment was done which took an equal number of males and females and placed them together but feed certain ibises low, medium, or high mercury containing food. A control was also set up with mercury free food. This was done to show the variations of mercury in the wild. Once the birds reached sexual maturity at a year old, homosexuality increased significantly in the 3 groups that had mercury in their food.

5. This is a big problem because if the homosexuality continues the number of birds within the species will decline and may even become threatened if the number gets too low. This is all due to our industrialization and carelessness of where we dispose of wastes. If we each took a step to make sure we properly dispose of things and do what we can to make sure excess mercury and other harmful pollutants do not end up in lakes we can save many different species and preserve biodiversity for years to come.

6.Copulated-To engage in sexual intercourse.