Too Close for Comfort...?

Now more than ever we need to be concerned with how our waste gets disposed. The fact remains that there is a super fund site about 5 miles from my house which isn't that far but the scary thought is that this site is only 2 1/2 miles from two wellfields which are then pumped to the Biscayne Aquifer which is the sole source of drinking water for Dade County, Florida. That thought alone scares me thinking what if one day it gets to a point where we cannot reverse this process and all our drinking water in contaminated. Water is the source to all life and if we continue to be so negligent with out waste we will not only be dooming our lives but that of all living things. This site is called the NORTHWEST 58TH STREET LANDFILL. You can read more information on this site by going to http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/cerclis_web.report?pgm_sys_id=FLD980602643

Are we helping or harming?

Now a days most of us can afford to go the local supermarket and see the abundance of food we can all buy. You sit and wonder if there is so much food constantly stock piled for us to buy at any point why is their so much famine in the world. Then again that is just one thought you also see a young girl walk by thinking she looks like she is 18 when she is 15, and you ask your self what could cause this dramatic change in how all people go through puberty. Well the fact is that about 60% of all food you find in the supermarket have been genetically altered according to a recent study. The hormones and pesticides they are adding to are food are not having a immediate change in us or so they thought but after a pro longed exposure to all these chemicals we can see what affects they are having on us now. Here is a small example of what foods are genetically enhanced chicken, corn, strawberries, ice cream, potato's, cereals, and jello. Those are just a few products that you find in your supermarket that are altered. Now the argument arises that we may be helping the world at the same time by being able to grow fast and more food to feed the world but I say at what expense are we going to pay to have more food. We have to think of our children and our grand children these foods will affect them as well and we do not want them growing up with a multitude of chemicals being fed to them. Another problem that also comes from all these genetically enhanced food is that with all these pesticides being added to our food we are ending biodiversity first hand because of all the worlds supply of strawberries are grown the same way and with the same chemicals what is the difference from strawberries on one side of the planet from the other? The answer is that there won't be diversity and we can harm many other living things with that form growth. We must understand that we are changing what made this world so great the fact that all these taste different and have there own unique flavor to it all.

Barely Hanging On

We sometimes forget that we share this plant with other animals and it's easy to do that because we feel that we are the superior species. We show little concern about what we do and what we do with our waste and forget what toll it has on our enviorment. Life is a very fragile thing that we all must care for because the extinction of one animal almost certainly means the endangerment of another. Here in Florida we are blessed with beautiful wild life that we can all go see all around us especially in the everglades. The everglades is one of the biggest water purifiers on this planet and most people do not know that which causes the uninformed people to be careless with how much we waste or how we waste. To think that animals that once flourished so well in our surrounding areas are now reduced to being monitored by organizations because they are about to lose a fight that seems they cannot win or do anything about. I'm only going to name a few animals that can be found from the everglades to the keys dividing them into different categories:

Fish:
Shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, Crystal darter, Common snook, Bluestripe shiner, Harlequin darter, Okaloosa darter, Saltmarsh topminnow, Key silverside, Suwannee bass, and the Bluenose shiner.

Amphibians:
Flatwoods salamander, Pine Barrens treefrog, Dusky gopher, Florida gopher, and the Bog frog.

Reptiles:
American alligator, Atlantic loggerhead turtle, Atlantic green turtle, American crocodile, Leatherback turtle, Big Pine Key ringneck snake, Eastern indigo snake, Alligator snapping turtle, and the Miami black-headed snake.

Birds:
Northern goshawk, Bachman's sparrow, Roseate spoonbill, Henslow's sparrow, Golden eagle, Ivory-billed woodpecker, Marsh hawk, Pigeon hawk, Arctic peregrine falcon, Whooping crane, and the Burrowing owl.

Mammals:
Florida panther, River otter, Bobcat, Everglades mink, Southeastern brown bat, Round-tailed muskrat, Florida black bear, West Indian (=Forida) manatee, Sherman's fox squirrel, Eastern chipmunk, and the Englewood mole.

These are just a few on a long list that keeps growing day by day, and if we don't do anything to help stop this process we can all rest assure that all these animals will move from the endangered list to the extinct list.

Atmospheric Preservation

As we all know the atmosphere is one of the most important features are planet has. It is key in circulating all the carbon dioxide (CO2) which is then used by plants in a process called photosynthesis. Now photosynthesis is the process by which plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen for all living things to use. Now the atmosphere is very sensitive and very fragile although carbon dioxide already exist we also have to worry about other man made gases that are causing the deterioration of our atmosphere. Like all living things we can not live without the other so if the atmosphere gets to a point where all the gases are causing to much damage we will burn up the ozone and then very harmful radiation that is typically absorbed by the ozone layer will come straight into our planet and destroy all life. Now our atmosphere is just one part in a big scale that we all must help protect by reducing the amount of gases we all release. We can do our part in preserving all that is good about our planet by just doing the little things that most of us neglect to even think about like car pooling, driving hybrid cars, and etc... Remember we have to share this planet with all living things and cannot be selfish and destory for our survival alone.

Changes without changing

I decided to join the Wild Spots Foundation due to the fact that I feel protecting the different habitats of the world is key to survival of the planet. As we all know the whole world moves on a giant life cycle and we depend on each different living thing to do it's part in the cycle to ensure the survival of all. Now Imagine a dried up rain forest with no trees or plants that would be devastating to all the animals that live in the ecosystem and even worse if we think that it would not affect us we are wrong. The fact remains that the rain forest produces 20% of our oxygen and every living thing in this planet needs oxygen to survive. I am sure that all our different habitats help us on each region of the world survive but if we let the different habitats die slowly then we will not know what wonders we can still discover on each side of our planet let along all the medications that are derived from different ecosystems in our planet. That is why we have to change the way we consume without changing the way our planet looks.