Friday 2 August 2013

Hydrosphere

Flowing Water


A good portion of the Earth's water is found in the oceansWelcome to something we like to call the hydrosphere! This is where we talk about the way water moves through the world. Water affects everything that happens in life. In Latin, "hydro" means water. Therefore, anything that scientists describe, when it comes to water, is a part of the HYDROsphere. That water may be at the bottom of the ocean or in the top layers of the atmosphere; it is all a part of the hydrosphere.

Water Water Everywhere

Water is in the air, on the land, between the rocks, and in every living thing. Water, in its purest form, is H20 (two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom). You will usually find ions or compounds floating around in it, but water is just one small molecule. As you'll discover, it's very busy. While water may move and carry other substances with it, you need to remember that pure liquid water is the thing that makes life on Earth possible.

Water molecules can be locked in glaciers for millions of yearsLiquid water makes the Earth a special place. Our planet has a very nice temperature range that allows water to remain in its liquid state. If we were a colder object like Pluto, it would not matter how much water there was on the planet; it would all be frozen. On the other hand, if we were on a very hot planet, all of the water would be in a gaseous state. Water vapor and solid water are useless to the living organisms found on Earth. Since the hydrosphere includes all of the water on the planet, you will study all of the various states of water. There will be solids in the deep glaciers, liquids of the oceans, and the vapor state of clouds.

I Am Water, Hear Me Evaporate

So you're a water molecule. Chances are you'll stay a water molecule and won't ever be broken down. The world likes to keep its water around. Imagine that you're moving through the hydrologic cycle. You evaporate, fall as rain, and drain into a river. There's not a lot of excitement. How much time does it take? Scientists think that if you are lucky enough to evaporate into a cloud, you spend about ten days floating around the atmosphere. If you're unlucky enough to be at the bottom of the ocean or stuck in a glacier, you might spend tens of thousands of years without moving.

Countries song lol enjoy it!!!

Study, practice and then show  me ow good you sing it.
Slow Version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhu72BvgPIk

Normal speed verson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEdtMuZnYqc

Sunday 2 June 2013

Questionnaire for Field Trip to a Natural Protected area.


Questions for visit to Francisco Xavier Clavijero´s Park.

1.    Why did this become a protected area?

2.    What is exactly a natural protected area?

3.    How long ago was this park declared a natural protected area?

4.    Which kind of species of plants can be found here?

5.    Which are the characteristics of natural protected areas?

6.    Which are the benefits of having a natural protected area?

7.    Where do you get the economic resources of having a natural protected   area?

8.    Does this park protect fauna too?

9.    How do you take care of this area?

10. How many species are in danger of extinction?

11. How many species of plants do you have here?

12. What is botanical?

13. What is the objective of a natural protected area?

14. Do you know how many natural protected areas are there in Mexico?

15. How can civil population help to keep natural protected areas?

16. What will happen without natural protected areas?

17. Which achievements have you reached as natural protected area?

18. Do natural protected areas help the planet? How?

19. Why was this place chosen as a natural protected area?

20. Why are you trying to preserve this species of plants?

21. How big is this natural protected area?  

Thursday 30 May 2013

Ecological Footprint

Site for getting your ecological Footprint


http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/globalfootprint/index.asp

Thursday 9 May 2013

Main risks and Vulnerability of Population in the World and Mexico.


 

Hydrometeorologic, Gelologic, Chemical and Sanitary Risks in the World and Mexico.


 

Population is exposed to a large range of natural processes or anthropic actions (caused by humankind).

A risk implies the presence of a factor or event of diverse origin:

 

* Underground fractures or faults

* Possible landslides or flooding zones

* High seismicity zones

* Closeness to chemical or gas industries

 

The risk is higher when there are great  people settlements close to active volcanoes, in zones of high seismicity or hurricane impact zones and also if there is no adequate organization for disaster prevention.

 

Risks can be classified like this:

 

Process
Examples
Natural
Geological
 
Earthquakes, volcanic eruption, erosion, collapses , seaquakes, sinking.
Hydrometeorological
Hurricanes, tornados, dust storms, flooding, hailstorms, frost, draughts, tropical storms.
Anthropic
Chemical-technological
Fires, explosions, gas leaks, petroleum and toxic substances spills (liquid or gas kinds),  dangerous waste.
Sanitary-ecological
Water ,soil, air, food pollution: Epidemies  and plagues.
Socio-organizational
In massive concentrations: terrestrial, flying, sailing and rain accidents. Public  services interruption.

 

The extension of space where the disaster occurs varies in order to the strength and length of the event.  Since 2011, the amounts of disasters kept showing the impact that natural disasters have in human health and society.

 

A disaster is called so when the following two circumstances appear:

 

* Violent emergence of a high destructive power phenomenon that affects a region or zone.

* The existence of a community vulnerable to its impact.

 

Vulnerability is how susceptible a population is to suffer damage. Population that live in rural zones is more vulnerable  because it would be harder for them to rebuild their houses and recover their agriculture products or livestock.

 

A disaster can also provoke epidemics, scarcity of food and losing jobs. Recovery may be faster and easier in urban zones. In central cities they are more vulnerable to terrorist attacks and anthropic risks.

 

Poor populations, because of their lack of money sometimes establish themselves in high risk zones, like seismic, volcanic, close to tectonic faults or affected by hurricanes and flooding and in housing built with inappropriate techniques and materials. (Like a house built with cardboard and metal sheets.

 

 

 

Other factors that incide vulnerability are:

 

* Inefficiency of public services

* Lack of education on disaster prevention

* Not enough infrastructure to help all the population in case of disaster

* Passive attitude of the population

 

A disaster happens when two factors combine: Risk and vulnerability.

 

Risk + Vulnerability = Disaster

 

The study of disasters social impact is very important. The main indicators are:

 

* Number of people death and hurt

* Amount of victims of damage

* Housing and work  buildings damage

 

Population is more vulnerable to unpredictable phenomena like earthquakes, which cause huge damage to life and material goods. Predictable phenomenon gives some time to be prepared and take security measures (like cyclones) in which damages are less.

 

The areas with higher frequency and strength of hydrometeorological phenomena are the places with lots of rain and cyclones. There rivers overflow, flooding, landslide, lose of soil, beaches sand, agriculture products, livestock and housing happen  in them.

 

Other big disasters are caused by technologic origin like toxic substances spill (PETROLEUM), fires, nuclear accidents, air, water and soil pollution as well. Other dangers of anthropologic origin are wars that favour epidemics, famine (people in hunger conditions) and environment destruction.

 


Mount Vesuvius

Vesuvius has 4 typical types of eruptions:
1. Plinian (such as the 79 AD Pompeii eruption): extremely large explosive eruptions producing several to several tens of cubic km of magma in a very short time.
2. Sub-Plinian explosive eruptions (such as the 1631 eruption). They are similar in style, but smaller than true Plinian events.
3. Strombolian and Vulcanian eruptions (several examples during the 1631-1944 period, e.g. 1906 and 1944). Such eruptions produce local heavy tephra falls, small pyroclastic flows, as well as large fire fountains and lava flows.
4. The smallest, but most frequent type of activity observed at Vesuvius is persistent Strombolian to Hawaiian-style activity that prevailed during much of the period between 1631 and 1944. This activity is usually limited to the central crater, and sometimes to flank vents. Lava flows and lava fountains have been frequently observed during such periods of activity.

Eruptions of  1796 - 1822, 1824 - 1834, 1835 - 1839, 1841 - 16 February 1850, 1854 - 1855, 1855 - 1861, 1864 - 1868, 1870 - 1872, 1875 - 1906, 1913 - 4 April 1944

Krakatoa - the world's most infamous volcano

The island group of Krakatoa (or Krakatau) lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Krakatoa is infamous for its violent Plinian eruption in 1883, that destroyed the previous volcanic edifice and enlarged its caldera.
Collapse of the former volcanic edifice, perhaps in 416 AD, had formed a 7-km-wide caldera. Remnants of this ancestral volcano are preserved in Verlaten and Lang Islands; subsequently Rakata, Danan and Perbuwatan volcanoes were formed, coalescing to create the pre-1883 Krakatoa island. Caldera collapse during the catastrophic 1883 eruption destroyed Danan and Perbuwatan volcanoes, and left only a remnant of Rakata volcano.
This eruption, the 2nd largest in Indonesia during historical time (the most violent being the eruption of Tambora in 1815), caused more than 36,000 fatalities, most as a result of devastating tsunamis that swept the adjacent coastlines of Sumatra and Java. Pyroclastic surges traveled 40 km across the Sunda Strait and reached the Sumatra coast. After a quiescence of less than a half century, the post-collapse cone of Anak Krakatoa ("Child of Krakatoa") was constructed within the 1883 caldera at a point between the former cones of Danan and Perbuwatan. Anak Krakatau has been the site of frequent eruptions since 1927.

 

Typical eruption style: unspecified
Pelée volcano eruptions: 1932
Last earthquakes nearby:

Time
Mag. / Depth
Distance
LocationNo recent earthquakes

Background:


Renowned Montagne Pelée, forming the northern end of the island of Martinique, is the most active volcano of the Lesser Antilles arc. Three major edifice failures since the late Pleistocene, the last about 9000 years ago, have left large horseshoe-shaped calderas breached to the SW inside which the modern volcano has been constructed. More than 20 major eruptions have occurred at Pelée during the past 5000 years. Extensive pyroclastic-flow deposits, incised by steep-walled ravines, mantle the slopes of the volcano. The l'Etang Sec summit crater is filled by two lava domes emplaced during the 1902 and 1929 eruptions. Historical eruptions date back to the 18th century; only two modest phreatic or phreatomagmatic eruptions took place prior to 1902. The catastrophic 1902 eruption, which destroyed the city of St. Pierre, the "Pearl of the Lesser Antilles," became the type-example of pelean eruptions and marked the onset of modern volcanological studies of the behavior of pyroclastic flows.

 

Popocatépetl volcano


Stratovolcano 5426 m / 17,802 ft
Central Mexico, 19.02°N / -98.62°W
Current status: erupting (4 out of 5)
Popocatépetl webcams / live data


Last update: 8 May 2013 (steam and ash emissions, intermittent explosions)
Typical eruption style: Dominantly explosive, construction of lava domes. Plinian eruptions at intervals of several centuries or few thousands of years, vulcanian and strombolian activity in intermittent phases.

 

 

 


Popocatépetl volcano eruptions: 1345-47, 1354, 1363(?), 1488, 1504, 1509(?), 1512, 1518, 1519-23(?), 1528, 1530, 1539-40, 1542, 1548, 1571, 1580, 1590, 1592-94, 1642, 1663-65, 1666-67, 1697, 1720, 1802-04, 1827(?), 1834(?), 1852(?), 1919-22, 1923-24, 1925-27(?), 1933, 1942-43, 1947, 1994-95, 1996-2003, 2004-ongoing

Last earthquakes nearby:

Time
Mag. / Depth
Distance
Location
Mon, 6 May
Mon, 6 May 08:33 UTC
M 3.4 / 3 km
2 km
19 km al ESTE de OZUMBA, MEX
Tue, 30 Apr
Tue, 30 Apr 16:09 UTC
M 3.2 / 3 km
24 km
2 km al NOROESTE de S ANDRES MIXQUIC, DF

Popocatepetl is one of Mexico's most active volcanoes. After almost 50 years of dormancy, "Popo" came back to life in 1994 and has since then been producing powerful explosions at irregular intervals.
In the past centuries before European invasions, large eruptions produced giant mud flows that have buried Atztec settlements, even entire pyramids.

Background:


Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, towers to 5426 m 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano. The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 250-450 m deep crater. The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano.
At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas south of the volcano. The modern volcano was constructed to the south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone. Three major plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 AD, have occurred from Popocatépetl since the mid Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano. Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since precolumbian time.

 

Environment Degradation and Natural Disasters in the World and Mexico

 

Natural events like earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis cause bigger disaster because their intensity and frequency.

Geologic risks, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes cause great environmental damage. Fires are another kind of risks that impact on the environment because they destroy woods, biodiversity and grassland.

 

Social disasters produce great lost (explosions, toxic substances spills, epidemics) that affect the environment and population.

 

A disaster causes direct and indirect loss. Direct are immediately evident (death, destruction of infrastructure, cultural and private patrimony, etc. Indirect are the social and economic consequences as people relocation, sicknesses and epidemics, ack of food and housing destruction.

 

Economic activity is affected when stores  and services buildings are destroyed, there is jobs , touristic commercial and industrial loss.

 

Because of its geographic position Mexico is exposed to different kind of geologic and hydrometeorologic disasters. More than one third of Mexican population lives in high risk zonesnmainly in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas because of preassure of ocean plates of the Pacific, Cocos and Northamerican that produce igh volcanic activity.

 

Mexico is also a zone of hidrometeorological risk because hurricane impact and is vulnerable to suffer floodings because of its flowing rivers.

 

The majority of a disaster effects are caused by hurricanes that  are strong at the coasts of Mexico specially the south and southeast of the country, in contrast with the north states like Coahuila, Durango and San Luis Potosi that are vulnerable to disasters caused by droughts.

 

A thyphoon is a cyclone  originated in the west Pacific  and Indic Ocean (Japan, China).

 

Social damage is higher if there isn’t an adequate organization of the authorities and society to have shelter, medicine, medical help, food and all the necessary support of an affected population.

 

To decrease population vulnerability and risk it is very important to spread prevention culture and education, people must be organized trained in emergency situations and work together with the prevention steps with authorities in charge.

 

Two thirds of the country are in seismic risk because to Cocos and Northamerican subduction  plates.  Being located at the Pacific Fire Ring in Mexico there are a great number of volcanoes: Colima, Popocatépetl, Ceboruco, Tacaná and Chinchón.

 

Mexico is located in a inter-tropical region and that’s why each year there are around 20 cyclones, 4 or 5 of which  get into our territory and cause big damage  like flooding and landslides at Pacific and Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts.

 

 

 

 

Sunday 14 April 2013

Importance of Natural Protected Areas, Environmental Services and Clean Technologies


 

Natural Protected Areas in the World and Mexico

 

Natural protected areas are zones where original environment has not been greatly affected by human activity or require to be restored or protected. Their objective is  to host a diversity of species of plants and animals, many of them in danger of extinction.

 

Worldwide, the number of Natural Protected Areas has considerably increased in the last decades, and now represent 12% of Earth. Nevertheless lost of biodiversity continues because environmental protection has to face poachers, illegal logging, and illegal commerce of species in danger of extinction.

 

Humanity has set aside forests and other ecosystems for conservation for at least 2,500 years, with the first modern national park established at Yellowstone in 1872. Protected areas have since grown to cover much of the globe: the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre now lists more than 102,000 terrestrial and marine sites covering nearly 19 million square kilometres – almost 4 per cent of the Earth. The vast majority are terrestrial, and their establishment is believed to be the biggest deliberate change of land use in history.

Meanwhile 149 sites of ‘great natural value’ are given special legal protection under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, ratified by 176 states. They and other protected areas serve many purposes, including safeguarding biodiversity and wild resources, providing clean air and water, combating climate change and attracting tourists. A rapidly growing number has been established across national boundaries, acting as catalysts for peace.

Protected areas are unevenly spread: one fifth of all the world’s countries have designated less than 1 per cent of their land. There are major gaps; less than a tenth of a per cent of the original forest in the Southern Pacific islands is protected for example, along with less than 1 per cent of the forests of Central Africa’s Cameroon Highlands and of the mangroves of the Gulf of Guinea. More striking still, less than 1 percent of the seas and oceans that cover 70 percent of the globe is covered by protected areas.

Many parks exist only on paper, lacking management and legal title. Many that are properly enforced are too small to function effectively. Many more are damaged by threats ranging from poaching to air pollution, from illegal mining and logging to uncontrolled fires – often because they have been set up without the participation of local people, who believe they do not benefit from them. And global warming threatens to erode and destroy their value, as species are unable to cope with the changing climate.

These dangers happen because of factors  as poverty, overconsumption and overexploitation. The protected areas of the earth will only continue to do their invaluable work if these problems are controlled – and if the local people have reason to value them and participate in their conservation.




Our country (Mexico) has a System of Natural Protected Areas is divided in different categories:

* Biosphere Reserves

* National Parks

* Natural Monuments

* Plants and Animal Protected Zones, etc.


With these actions mega diversity is protected and species in danger of extinction are preserved. Natural Protected Areas cover 9.5% of Mexico´s surface.

 
 
Importance of Natural Protected Areas, Environmental Services and Clean Technologies
 
Protected areas are economic engines. They provide for life’s jobs and livelihoods as a traditional destination
for the global tourism industry. Outdoor equipment industries have sprung up and are critical to regional
economies. Significant employment is dependent on parks and protected areas. At the same time these areas
protect resources of immense economic value such as water and fisheries. The pharmaceutical industry has
benefited greatly from the genetic diversity of species and safeguarding species in protected areas will ensure
the possibility of discovery of future medicines. As well the economic spin- offs from literature, film and
television adds to the positive side of the ledger of the values of protected areas.
 
Globally - protected areas serve as indicators of achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. At the
local level, protected areas contain landscapes with a sense of place and meaning to nations and its people.
They offer opportunity for involvement with restoration and other conservation activities. Such activities enhance social outcomes, sometimes dramatically, when delinquent youth are transformed into engaged
community members.
 
Protected areas provide the settings for healthy outdoor living and recreation. Exploring a protected area
offers not only the opportunity to understand nature but also for exercise and education. They provide a
sense of adventure and challenge, including self-discovery. Achieving personal development goals increases
the mental well-being of humans. Much evidence has been accumulated on the recuperative force of nature
on recovering patients.
 
Most importantly, protected areas are the setting for providing some of life’s most joyous moments. It is
within these areas that our spirits can soar and our soul can be replenished. We can feel joy in the beauty
of the place, from the feeling of solitude, or from having an interaction with wildlife. Protected areas are
places where one has time to relax and unwind and to share a special moment or adventure with family and
friends. These joyous experiences become embedded as a memorable moment and for many, they can be a
life-transforming event.
 
Protected areas provide income through jobs and in some cases they also provide direct income to communities
through park fees. Table 2 below highlights some examples of the economic values derived from
protected areas.
Protected areas in Mexico include 174 from which 41 are biosphere resevrves, 67 national parks, 5 natural monuments, 8 natural resources protected areas, 35 animals and plants protected areas and 18 natural sanctuaries.
 
Carbon Capture
México Carbon storage and tourism benefits from protected areas
 
México’s efforts to conserve biodiversity encompass an overwhelming necessity to provide goods and services to its growing population. Protected areas13 constitute an important part of the Mexican strategy to protect its unique biodiversity. Currently, a greater portion of Mexican federal protected areas surface is conceptualized as multiple use zones (83%, IUCN Category VI), where activities are limited by the thresholds imposed by sustainable use of natural resources. Protected areas are therefore not isolated from the national economy.
Rather, they play an important role in enhancing and consolidating the well-being of México’s rural population, while remaining within the limits necessary to conserve their “natural” condition. A crucial characteristic of Mexican protected areas which demonstrates their role in society is that land tenure within their boundaries is not altered by their establishment. Instead, land use is restricted through presidential decrees, in order to safeguard environmental conditions toward a greater public good.
Mexicans are increasingly recognizing the strategic importance of protected areas, together with the need to develop social programs within them to achieve sustainable development. Thus, the budget assigned to federal protected areas by the government has increased significantly over the last 15 years.
Documenting the value of goods and services that protected areas provide to society is a first step towards creating the social and political will needed to develop a strong state policy stance towards their long term consolidation as key pieces of a nation’s sustainability. Recently, The Nature Conservancy initiated a  process for documenting goods and services provided by Mexico’s protected areas that include mainly: carbon sequestration, water provision services, watershed protection, disaster mitigation, tourism, and fisheries.




Mexico is the eighth most important tourist destination in the world, with around 21.4 million tourists

arriving in 2006 to experience its beaches, culture, history and natural surroundings. Income derived from international travelers’ expenditures in 2006 total USD 12.2 billion. National and international tourism activities currently represent around 8% of Mexico’s gross national product.

 

The CONANP16 estimates that approximately 5.5 million tourists visited federally protected areas, with direct sales close to USD 285.7 million, derived exclusively from direct payment of services related to their visit. This figure represents 2.3% of all international traveler expenditures.


Activity #3

Investigate a Protected area anywhere inthe world. Elaborate a map locating where that area is and illustrate the species or plants or animals protected with drawings or cutouts.

In your notebook write:
1.- Which is the name of the area in which continent and country it is located and which species of plants and animals are protected,

Answer:
2. Why is it important to have natural protected areas?